WASHINGTON — Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed federal protections for abortion, there were calls from both the left and the right for Congress to pass a law in response. But in the year since, nothing has happened.
Divided government is mainly to blame. Senate Republicans used the filibuster multiple times in 2022 to block Democrats’ attempts to pass a law reinstating federal protections for the procedure, and such a measure could not pass today in the House where Republicans are now in the majority.
On the other hand, conservatives also don’t have enough power to pass a federal abortion ban. Such a measure would be blocked in the Senate or vetoed by President Joe Biden.
Some of the current inaction is also due to changing priorities from Republicans, who believe they suffered at the polls during the 2022 midterms because voters, especially women, were so upset by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Republicans today generally say there is no need for federal abortion legislation, and they would rather focus on culture war topics that they perceive gives them an advantage, such as limiting treatment for transgender children.
Abortion rights groups, which are generally aligned with the Democratic Party, say their biggest hope rests with future elections, starting in 2024.
Everything would have to fall in their favor to pass a bill that codifies access to abortion and contraception as a legal right. They need President Joe Biden to win another term, Senate Democrats to grow their slim majority and for Democrats to retake the majority in the House, where the GOP currently has a five-vote advantage.
Monica Simpson, executive director of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, said right now there is not enough support in Congress to codify Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court reversed in last year’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“In order to make the moves that we need to federally, we also have to make sure that we have the right people in position to do that,” Simpson said, adding her organization and other partners will focus on engaging voters. “That brings it back down to our communities being fully engaged and understanding the issues.”
Unwilling to wait and coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Dobbs, congressional Democrats are using procedural maneuvers to push legislation forward. Senate Democrats this week introduced a slate of bills that would protect access to contraception and prevent states from punishing women who seek abortions or doctors who perform them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said he will seek to pass the legislation by unanimous consent, something that can only be done if all 49 Republicans agree. And even if the measures went through normal Senate procedures, they would require 60 votes to avoid a filibuster.
In the House, Democrats are collecting signatures in hopes of forcing a vote on abortion access legislation. But without the support of several Republicans, they won’t get the numbers needed to move forward.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said he supports the mission behind these efforts but doesn’t have high hopes of them leading to new laws.
“Given that we are in a divided Congress, the path to passing any legislation on this subject in this Congress is exceedingly narrow,” the Atlanta Democrat recently said. “But I will continue to fight for the privacy of women’s health care and the right of Georgia women to make sensitive personal health care decisions freely in private consultation with their doctors and not with extreme politicians in the state Legislature intruding into the exam room.”
Shortly after the Dobbs decision, restrictive abortion laws went into effect in states including Georgia. Other conservative states passed new legislation limiting access to or creating penalties for those who aid in obtaining the procedure.
Groups that oppose abortion also pushed for Congress to quickly pass a federal abortion ban. One proposal, by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, would have prohibited abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of gestation but allowed states to set even earlier limits.
That legislation never got a vote in the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority. But substantial abortion legislation also hasn’t come up yet for a vote in the House, even after Republicans narrowly won a majority. Recently, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said there would be a vote soon on a 15-week abortion ban, but there is disagreement even among fellow GOP lawmakers about whether that’s a good idea.
Moderate Republicans, such as South Carolina U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, have said that taking votes on anti-abortion legislation will only hurt them at the polls in 2024 and is a fruitless effort since Senate Democrats would block any legislation that comes to them.
Even far-right lawmakers such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene are ready to pivot. The Rome Republican said she believes abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, but she doesn’t think Congress needs to act. The Supreme Court in last year’s ruling made abortion a decision left to states and that’s where it should reside, Greene said.
She doesn’t agree the issue hurts Republican at the polls, but she also said that her constituents aren’t asking for Congress to pass a federal ban. She said the GOP should focus on other priorities that have greater impact.
“I think the message is we should be supporting women, we should be supporting moms,” Greene said. “We should be supporting kids. And we should be actually addressing the real issue that most parents care about when it comes to children is protecting them from this trans agenda.”
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