Bipartisan compromise bill would restore abortion rights

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing compromise legislation to restore abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court decision

The legislation introduced by two Republicans and two Democrats on Monday is intended to send a signal to state legislatures and the public that a majority of the Senate supports codifying the right to abortion even if they can't.

Even though the bill doesn't have enough votes, it's still useful to show that there is a bipartisan majority that wants to codify abortion.

Most state regulations that prevent abortion access before the fetus is viable would be banned under the legislation. State restrictions can be allowed after that point if the mother's life is not in danger. It would protect access to contraception, an issue after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in a concurring opinion that decisions guaranteeing access to contraception and other rights may need to be reexamined.

The bipartisan bill is smaller than the legislation preferred by most Democrats, which would have protected abortion rights and expanded them beyond what was allowed in the landmark 1972 decision. Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Collins and Murkowski all voted against the bill because of their opposition to the overturn of the abortion law.

After that effort, he felt like left votes were on the table. A new law designed to reduce gun violence was passed by the House and Senate.

He said there weren't enough votes for that legislation until members decided that they had to act.

Democrats need 10 Republican votes to pass a bill in the Senate, but only two of them have publicly supported abortion rights.

Many of the abortion limits that had been deemed unconstitutional by the court have now been enacted. In roughly half of the states, the ruling is expected to lead to abortion restrictions.

A number of GOP-controlled states have moved to restrict or outlaw abortion, while states controlled by Democrats have sought to promote access. Democrats hope that a shift in priorities will help them in the upcoming elections, as voters now rank abortion as one of the country's top issues.

Some activists have accused President Joe Biden and other top Democrats of not responding forcefully enough to the decision.

There is an increased sense of urgency since the Supreme Court's June decision, which could lead to an effort to get a vote on the bill, but it is unlikely to succeed.

The people are paying attention to it.