Posted on by Randy Slovacek

Senate Vote To Protect Roe V. Wade Fails (As Expected)

Senate Vote To Protect Roe V. Wade Fails (As Expected)
As expected, Senate Democrats’ push for legislation to protect abortion rights nationwide failed today in a 51-49 vote.

Democrats knew the attempt to enshrine the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent in federal law wouldn’t come close to the 60 votes needed to approve the legislation.

But, they wanted to get GOP senators on the record as opposing a woman’s right to choose after a leaked Supreme Court opinion suggested it was about to be overturned.


From the New York Times:

The outcome was never in doubt, given the 50-50 split in the Senate and the deep partisan differences over abortion rights.

But Democrats pressed ahead anyway, hoping that the vote would help them portray Republicans as extremists and persuade voters that they needed to elect more Democrats in November if they hoped to preserve abortion and other rights.

Republicans, who unanimously opposed the measure, were joined by one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who broke with his party to vote against taking up the bill. Mr. Manchin, who opposes abortion rights, said the legislation was overly broad, noting that it would go substantially further than simply codifying Roe and warning that it would “expand abortion.”

Manchin, who isn’t up for re-election until 2024, says he would support a more narrow bill. #bullshit

According to Politico, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she’s still working with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and other senators on a “more focused” proposal that would codify two major abortion decisions by the Supreme Court into law.

My own two cents: none of this will really matter other than getting on the news today. Collins’ proposal might get one or two Republican votes and perhaps Manchin, but it still won’t cross the 60 vote threshold.

In regard to becoming a talking point for Democrats during the upcoming fall mid-term elections – yes, we’ll be hearing about this, but it is not the issue that will tip the scales in the Dems’ favor. The economy, and especially inflation, will be the top issue come November.