US Senate Fails to Pass Legislation Guaranteeing Abortion Rights

Democrats Expect Positive Impact from Midterm Elections
Biden: "Vote for Pro-Abortion Candidates"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The U.S. Senate's attempt to guarantee abortion rights through legislation has failed as the U.S. Supreme Court considers overturning them. According to foreign media on the 11th (local time), the Senate attempted a vote on the "Women's Health Protection Act," which guarantees abortion rights, but the vote did not pass with 49 in favor and 51 against.

For the vote to proceed, at least 60 votes in favor are required to overcome a filibuster (unlimited debate). However, since the Democrats and Republicans each hold 50 seats in the Senate, it was anticipated early on that the vote would be difficult to pass without Republican cooperation.

About 20 Democratic House members, mainly women lawmakers, marched from the House to the Senate chamber before the vote, chanting "My body, my choice." The House passed a federal bill guaranteeing abortion rights last September with 218 votes in favor and 211 against. The bill aims to ensure that even if state governments restrict women's abortion rights, the federal government guarantees them, allowing medical institutions to perform the procedures. This is essentially the same as the bill the Senate attempted to vote on that day.

All Republican senators voted against the bill. To make matters worse for the Democrats, moderate Senator Joe Manchin cast a dissenting vote, resulting in less than half of the votes in favor. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking to reporters immediately after the Senate's legislative attempt failed, said, "Sadly, the Senate failed to defend women's right to make decisions about their bodies," and criticized, "The Republicans are extremists who want to criminalize women trying to make decisions about their own bodies."

Although the Democrats failed to legislate, they believe this controversy will have a positive impact on the upcoming November midterm elections. They expect it to act as a favorable factor since there is strong voter backlash against the repeal of abortion rights. The Wall Street Journal explained, "The Democrats pushed for the vote knowing it would fail in the Senate. However, Democratic leadership considers this vote a politically important process."

In fact, according to a poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos with 998 voters, 63% of Americans said they would vote for candidates supporting abortion rights in the midterm elections. Nearly half (49%) of Republican supporters gave the same response.

President Joe Biden emphasized in a statement that day, "To protect women's right to choose, voters must elect candidates who support this in the November midterm elections," and added, "We will continue to take measures to protect women's reproductive rights."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.