Senate Democrats Fail to Advance Sweeping Abortion Bill

Senate Democrats failed to advance a bill to codify Roe v. Wade and create a national right to abortion on Wednesday.

The procedural vote to invoke cloture and advance the Women’s Health Protection Act failed in a 49-to-51 vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer chose to hold the vote despite the near certainty that Democrats would fail to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to break a Republican filibuster and advance the measure.

The largely symbolic vote came after a leaked majority draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization revealed that the Supreme Court could...