On Wednesday, a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have legalized abortion until the moment of birth failed in the Senate by a vote of 51-49.
“The bill, known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, had passed the House last September and was brought forth for a Senate vote by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in wake of the leaked Supreme Court opinion draft showing that the court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade,” The Daily Wire reported. “Schumer and other Democrats had claimed that the bill was necessary to codify Roe and protect the right to abortion throughout America. Critics of the bill said it went way beyond Roe.”
While Roe permitted restrictions on abortion after the first trimester, the bill pushed by Democrats would have allowed abortion until birth – including after the baby could survive outside of the womb “when, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, a continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health,” the bill states.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who presided over the Senate vote, said the bill’s failure “clearly suggests the Senate is not where the majority of Americans are on this issue.” According to The Wall Street Journal, Harris “said it makes clear that a priority for the party should be to elect pro-abortion-rights candidates at the local, state and federal levels.”
However, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 38% of Americans believe abortion should be legal with no restrictions during the first trimester of pregnancy – meaning the majority of Americans agree with more restrictions on abortions than permitted in Roe v. Wade. The poll also found that only 15% of Americans believe abortion should be legal with no restrictions in the second trimester of pregnancy, and only 8% in the third trimester.
