Senate Democrats blocked legislation Tuesday banning abortions midway through pregnancy, a bill abortion foes had been pushing for months as the most sweeping restriction on the procedure for Congress to consider in more than a decade.
The measure would prohibit most abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, or 22 weeks gestational age, based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain beyond that point of development.
But 60 votes were needed to advance the bill, and it failed 54-42 with Republicans falling six votes short. Republicans won over three Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly and Bob Casey, but GOP Sen. Susan Collins opposed the measure and Sen. Lisa Murkowski didn’t vote on it at all.
“There are seven nations in the world that allow abortions on demand at 20 weeks, and we want to get out of that club,” said bill sponsor Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “What we’re trying to do here is to get America on the right path. We’re trying to adhere to who we are as a people.”
Republicans never had any real hope of passing the bill, since it’s strongly opposed by nearly every Democrat in Congress. But anti-abortion activists were focused more on forcing Democrats to take a stance on the measure, especially in the wake of controversial undercover videos Republicans say show Planned Parenthood profited from aborted fetal tissue.
Anger over those videos has a group of House conservatives saying they won’t support a government spending bill that includes federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which means there’s a threat of a government shutdown unless GOP and Democratic leaders are able to negotiate a deal.
Republicans also view the measure as the next big front in the abortion wars more than a decade after Congress banned partial-birth abortions. More than a dozen states have passed similar measures in recent years, in a new sweeping batch of abortion regulations that have left Democrats and supporters of abortion rights infuriated.
At the same time, Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, a visit that’s likely to further inflame discussions around the issue as the Catholic Church is a firm opponent of abortion.
“I hope people will see the visit by the pope and contemplate what he says,” Graham said. “The pope has been an outspoken supporter of the unborn.”
Only a small share of all abortions are performed midway through a pregnancy, and the measure polls relatively well among Americans, with a small majority saying they’d support it. Republicans have cast it as a reasonable prohibition on abortions that even those who generally support abortion rights could get behind.
But it’s unclear whether a 20-week ban would be upheld by the Supreme Court, as fetuses born that early in development aren’t typically considered viable, although a few have survived. Under the Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion, states can limit the procedure only after the point of viability.
“Any constitutional lawyer looking at it knows it’s unconstitutional,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Republicans have hinged their arguments around the use of anesthesia in fetal surgery as evidence that a fetus can feel pain around 20 weeks of development. But the measure is opposed by more than two dozen leading medical societies, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who say abortion is a decision that should be made by women and their doctors.
The House passed a nearly-identical version of the bill in May. Both the House and Senate measures contain exemptions if the women’s life is at stake and also allow rape and incest victims to get abortions past 20 weeks if they first obtain counseling.
