Yahoo Movies House passes legislation protecting the right to an abortion, but bill faces unlikely prospects in the Senate
WASHINGTON – The House passed a piece of legislation Friday which would codify the right to an abortion into federal law.
The House passed the Women's Health Protection Act with a vote of 218-211. The legislation would guarantee a pregnant person's right to access an abortion, along with ensuring providers would be permitted to perform abortions.
The vote came after a controversial new law in Texas banning abortion after six weeks has re-ignited the debate over reproductive health across the nation.
The bill would codify into law protections provided under the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion across the country in 1973. The bill would do this by establishing a statutory right to perform or receive the procedure, free from restrictions that single out abortion care.
But the bill's future is uncertain in the 50-50 Senate. It would need at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, which would require the support of at least 10 Republicans. But not every Democratic-voting senator has signed on yet, either.
Effects of the Texas abortion ban
The legislation was introduced earlier this month after a divided Supreme Court denied an effort by abortion rights groups to halt a new Texas law that bans people from having the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
More: Texas abortion law could hurt Republicans in 2022 midterm elections, experts say
The Texas law doesn't include exceptions for rape or incest but allows people to have the procedure for "medical emergencies."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday morning the legislation is about "freedom."
"About freedom that women have choice about the size and timing of their families, not the business of people on the court or members of Congress," Pelosi said.
An uncertain future
The bill's future chances dimmed even further Tuesday after Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins,who is supportive of abortion rights, told the Los Angeles Times she opposes the legislation because it is "harmful and extreme."
Report: GOP Sen. Susan Collins says she will not support Democrats' abortion-rights bill
“I support codifying Roe. Unfortunately the bill … goes way beyond that. It would severely weaken the conscious exceptions that are in the current law,” Collins said, according to the Times.
Collins said it would weaken the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits the government from burdening the exercise of religion.
More: South Dakotans will join country in fifth Women's March. This time it's against Texas' abortion ban.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, reproductive rights moved back to center stage once again with abortion access advocates decrying the law and many conservative states leading a nationwide push to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In response, the Women's March, which turned up thousands of protesters in 2017 and 2018 across the country, announced they are hosting events nationwide again in early October in support of reproductive rights.
More: South Dakotans will join country in fifth Women's March. This time it's against Texas' abortion ban.
The Supreme Court's work on abortion isn't over. The court is expected to hear a blockbuster challenge to Mississippi's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
That dispute, which could be argued at the court later this year and decided next summer right before the elections, is expected to address central questions about the constitutionality of abortion and restrictions on it imposed by states.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., sponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act, said Friday that "Congress must protect the rights of women and pregnant people in every zip code, putting an end to an attack on abortion once and for all."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House passes legislation codifying right to abortion in federal law, Sends issue to Senate
