Democrats Keep Forcing Senate Republicans to Go on Record With Their Anti-Abortion Extremism

As Trump works to present his party as moderate on abortion, Senate Dems have introduced a number of bills to prove otherwise, with one GOP senator dubbing their abortion rights legislation as “the summer of Schumer show votes.”

By Kylie Cheung  |  July 11, 2024 | 2:26pm
Photo: Getty Images AbortionPolitics
Democrats Keep Forcing Senate Republicans to Go on Record With Their Anti-Abortion Extremism

In recent days, since the Republican Party adopted its official 2024 platform, you’ve probably seen headlines along the lines of “Following Trump’s Lead, Republicans Adopt Platform That Softens Stance on Abortion,” or “RNC approves Trump-centric platform with softened language on abortion.” All of these are…in sharp contrast with what we’ve seen from Senate Republicans this week. Days after blocking bills that, among other common-sense measures, would protect a right to interstate abortion-related travel, Senate Republicans on Wednesday went directly on the record against access to reproductive health care.

After Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) brought the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act for a vote, every Republican senator except Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) rejected it. The bill is largely symbolic—it expresses support for access to reproductive care including abortion, and states, “It is the sense of Congress that protections for access to abortion rights and other reproductive health care after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health should be supported,” and that the protections of Roe v. Wade “should be restored and built upon.” In effect, it’s a statement of support that wouldn’t yield policy change—but effectively forces Republicans to state their position outright.

Prior to the vote, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said the bill had “no possibility of ever becoming law” and accused Democrats of political posturing ahead of November: “We call this the summer of [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer show votes.” Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) claimed the bill would “take us backward” (???). “The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision brought renewed hope to Americans who believe in the sanctity of each and every life, including life in the womb,” he said, further arguing Murray’s bill, which wouldn’t affect policy change, “would make it easier for unborn life to be ended.”

In remarks on the Senate floor, Murray cited previous Senate votes to enshrine reproductive rights after Dobbs, which Senate Republicans blocked. “We voted on legislation to protect contraception; Republicans blocked it. We just voted just last week on legislation to protect access to IVF; Republicans blocked that too, in a stunning display of hypocrisy,” Murray said. “Republicans have, in lockstep, blocked each bill every time.” Murray also recounted the story of an Idaho woman who almost died from being denied abortion care for a medical emergency: “I am going to keep saying it: a forced pregnancy does not have to make headlines to make someone’s life a living hell.”

In the months leading up to the November election, top Democrats like Murray have been steadily forcing votes to put Congressional Republicans on the record against fairly basic rights related to reproductive care—or, in this case, the mere idea that people should have access to reproductive care. Last month, Senate Republicans blocked bills to establish a right to IVF and a right to contraception. Some Senate Republicans have justified this course of action by equating or comparing certain contraceptives as well as IVF with abortion, thus endangering our rights to both. 

This has largely been strategic from Democrats. For months now, former President Trump has tried to simultaneously take credit for killing Roe to satisfy the Republican base, and also distance himself from abortion bans, which are almost universally unpopular. Trump and the party have been trying to pose as moderate, but it seems Democrats are trying to underscore that actions—for example, voting against a right to birth control—speak louder than words. 

This week alone, even before the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act on Wednesday, Murray put forth three other abortion-related bills for a vote via unanimous consent, a process that allows just one senator to kill the bill. One bill would have codified a right to interstate abortion travel. The two other bills would have protected abortion providers in states where abortion is legal if they offer abortion services to patients from states where it’s banned, and help train more abortion providers. Senate Republicans blocked all three. 

 
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