May 11, 2022

The Senate once again failed to advance abortion rights legislation Wednesday, in a largely symbolic effort Democrats mounted in response to the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

In a 49-51 vote, the Senate rejected the Democratic legislation, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and all Republicans voting against the measure. While the outcome was no surprise and mirrored a similar vote on abortion protections the Senate took in February, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested the court’s draft opinion, published by POLITICO last week, had raised the stakes.

“Today’s vote is one of the most consequential we will take in decades because for the first time in 50 years, a conservative majority, an extreme majority on the Supreme Court, is on the brink of declaring that women do not have freedom over their own bodies,” Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday morning, adding that the decision “will live in infamy.”

Read more:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/11/senate-doomed-vote-roe-abortion-rights-00031732