The Senate will hold another vote Wednesday on a human trafficking bill Democrats are blocking over abortion language.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the legislation would come up for a procedural vote in the afternoon, although it’s likely to fail.
Democrats on Tuesday blocked the vote, which would have ended debate on the legislation. They want Republicans to strip out language that would prevent $30 million in restitution funds from being used for abortions.
But Republicans say the language was included in the bill at the time Democrats decided to co-sponsor it and pass it unanimously in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month.
McConnell said just two additional Democrats are needed to vote in favor of the legislation Wednesday in order to clear it for a vote on final passage.
He accused Democrats of caving in to pro-abortion groups who are lobbying them to try to get the abortion language removed.
“A strong majority of the Senate, including several Democrats, has already voted in favor of this human-rights bill,” McConnell said Wednesday. “Now, all it will take is a few more Democrats of courage to ignore the lobbyists and do what’s right. All that will mean is that the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee supporting the very same bill they’d voted for just a few weeks earlier.”
Democrats say the abortion language would expand an existing federal provision because it would be applied to fees and penalties that make up the restitution fund, rather than taxpayer money.
