WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives has voted to restore abortion rights nationwide in the first legislative response by Democrats to the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The bill has little chance of becoming law because it lacks the necessary 50-50 support in the Senate. Still, the vote marks the start of a new era in the debate as lawmakers, governors and legislatures wrestle with the impact of the court’s decision.
The legislation passed 219-210. The House also passed a second bill to prohibit penalizing a woman or child who chooses to travel to another state to have an abortion, 223-205.
“Just three weeks ago, the Supreme Court struck down fundamental rights by overturning Roe v. Wade,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote, gathering with other Democratic women on the steps of the Capitol. “It’s outrageous that 50 years later, women should once again be fighting for our most basic rights against an extremist court.”
Republicans came out strongly against both bills, praising the Supreme Court’s decision and warning that the legislation would go further than Roe ever did when it comes to legalizing abortion.
Urging her colleagues to vote against it, Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers called abortion “the biggest human rights issue of our generation.”
She said the Democratic legislation “has nothing to do with protecting women’s health. It has everything to do with forcing an extreme agenda on the American people.
By overruling Roe, the court allowed states to enact strict restrictions on abortion, including many that had previously been deemed unconstitutional. The ruling is expected to result in abortion bans in roughly half of the states.
Already, a number of GOP-controlled states have moved quickly to restrict or ban abortions, while Democratic-controlled states have sought to protect access. Voters now rank abortion as one of the most pressing issues facing the country, a shift in priorities that Democrats hope will shift the political landscape in their favor for the midterm elections.
It’s the second time the House has passed the bill, which would expand the protections Roe previously provided by banning what supporters say are medically unnecessary restrictions that block access to safe and affordable abortions. It would prevent bans on abortions earlier than 24 weeks, when fetal viability, the ability of a human fetus to survive outside the womb, is generally thought to begin. It allows exceptions for abortions after fetal viability when the provider determines the mother’s life or health is at risk.
The Democratic proposal would also prevent states from requiring providers to share “medically inaccurate” information or require additional tests or waiting periods, often to dissuade a patient from getting an abortion.
The bill, which bans the out-of-state travel penalty, would specify that doctors cannot be penalized for providing reproductive care outside their state. Democrat Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, one of the bill’s authors, said travel threats “do not reflect the fundamental rights provided in our Constitution.”
Democrats highlighted the case of a 10-year-old girl who had to cross state lines into Indiana to get an abortion after being raped, calling it an example of how the court’s decision is already having far-reaching consequences.
“We don’t have to imagine why that might matter. We don’t need to come up with hypotheses. We now know what happened,” Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday on the Senate floor.
“Should the next little 10-year-old’s right, the 12-year-old’s right, or the 14-year-old’s right to get the care they desperately need be jeopardized?”
The Constitution does not specifically say that interstate travel is a right, although the Supreme Court has said it is a right that “has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized.” Yet the court never said exactly where the right to travel came from, and that could leave it open to challenge or elimination, as the right to abortion was.
Missouri lawmakers earlier this year, for example, considered making it illegal to “aid or abet” abortions that violate Missouri law, even if they’re performed out of state. Ultimately, the proposal was rejected.
Democrats have lined up more bills to pass in the coming weeks. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Friday that the House will vote next week on legislation guaranteeing the right to contraception.
Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who supports a national abortion ban, accused his colleagues across the aisle Thursday of seeking to “inflame” the abortion issue. He said supporters of the travel bill should ask themselves: “Does the child in the womb have a right to travel in their future?”
Only two Senate Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, support abortion rights, but they do not support the Democratic proposal, calling it too far-fetched. They introduced alternative legislation that would have prohibited states from placing an “undue burden” on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion before fetal viability, among other provisions.
When pressed Thursday on whether Democrats should work with the two senators, Pelosi replied, “We’re not going to negotiate on a woman’s right to choose.”
After the court’s ruling last month, some activists accused President Joe Biden and other top Democrats of not responding strongly enough to the ruling. Biden, who denounced the court’s decision as “extreme,” last week issued an executive order designed to prevent some potential penalties women seeking abortions could face. His administration also warned medical professionals that they should offer an abortion if the mother’s life is at risk.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has already launched a digital ad campaign to activate voters on the issue, warning that Republicans’ ultimate goal is to ban abortion nationwide.
“We need to elect two more Democratic senators so we can get around this issue so we can pass legislation that really affects a woman’s right to choose,” she said. “There are no half measures.”
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Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed to this report.
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