The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed a bill that would legally protect a woman’s right to have an abortion. However, the vote was a tight one, and Republicans were outraged at its passage.
The Women’s Health Protection Act passed the House on Friday, in a largely party-lines vote of 218-211, with only one Democrat, Henry Cuellar of Texas, joining the unanimous Republican opposition.
The bill would enshrine the right to have an abortion, criminalizing attempts by states to hinder terminations, whether by banning such procedures before fetal viability, or requiring a pregnant woman to schedule appointments during which she might be counselled out of getting the procedure.
It would permit abortions up to the point of viability or at which a fetus could survive outside the mother’s womb. In doing so, it would make the US’ most permissive abortion laws standard across the whole country. At present, 20 states ban abortions at the point of viability, while every other state caps procedures at some stage before that point.
Under the new bill, abortions after the point of viability would also be permitted if a doctor or “healthcare provider” determined the mother’s life or “health” were in danger. The bill’s chief sponsor in the Senate, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, said, while trying to pass an identical bill several years ago, that he did “not distinguish” between physical and mental health in this context.
As it stands, abortion has been legal in the US since 1973, when the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade affirmed a woman’s Constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy. However, this ruling is open to interpretation and could potentially be overturned by the now-conservative leaning Supreme Court.
It would permit abortions up to the point of viability or at which a fetus could survive outside the mother’s womb. In doing so, it would make the US’ most permissive abortion laws standard across the whole country. At present, 20 states ban abortions at the point of viability, while every other state caps procedures at some stage before that point.
Under the new bill, abortions after the point of viability would also be permitted if a doctor or “healthcare provider” determined the mother’s life or “health” were in danger. The bill’s chief sponsor in the Senate, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, said, while trying to pass an identical bill several years ago, that he did “not distinguish” between physical and mental health in this context.
As it stands, abortion has been legal in the US since 1973, when the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade affirmed a woman’s Constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy. However, this ruling is open to interpretation and could potentially be overturned by the now-conservative leaning Supreme Court.
