U.S. Senate Democrats have successfully blocked a Republican bill aimed at restricting reproductive healthcare, which critics, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, labelled as “deliberately misleading” and based on “false narratives.” The bill, known as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 6), was defeated on Wednesday after a vote of 52-47, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance to a final vote.
The bill, introduced by Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), would have imposed legal penalties, including fines and up to five years in prison, on healthcare practitioners who fail to provide proper care to a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion. However, healthcare professionals and rights advocates argue that the bill misrepresents medical practices and perpetuates harmful myths surrounding abortion care.
Schumer, speaking on the Senate floor, sharply condemned the bill as “the very definition of pernicious,” accusing it of using fearmongering tactics to attack women’s healthcare. He pointed out that it added unnecessary legal risks for doctors who are already bound by the law to provide appropriate medical care. “So much of the hard-right’s anti-choice agenda is pushed, frankly, by people who have little to no understanding of what women go through when they are pregnant,” Schumer stated, calling out the bill’s proponents for ignoring the complex, heartbreaking realities that women often face during pregnancies with complications.
The debate over the bill came in the wake of a series of sweeping anti-abortion measures pushed by Republican lawmakers in several states, particularly following the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. Schumer emphasised that the bill attempted to interfere in one of the most agonising decisions a woman might face—a tragic situation where a woman may need to end care due to severe pregnancy complications. “At that moment of agony, this bill cruelly substitutes the judgment of qualified medical professionals, and the wishes of millions of families, and allows ultraright ideology to dictate what they do,” he added.
The vote also fell on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that affirmed abortion rights in the U.S. before being overturned in 2022 by the court’s conservative majority. The timing of the bill’s introduction was met with widespread condemnation, as it sought to roll back reproductive rights on a day symbolising the fight for women’s bodily autonomy.
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, further criticised the bill, describing it as an attack on women’s rights. “Of all the bills that we could be voting on—lowering the cost of healthcare, expanding childcare, helping our families—it’s an absolute disgrace that Republicans are spending their first week in power attacking women, criminalising doctors, and lying about abortion,” she said, calling the bill “a sham” with no basis in reality.
Murray also highlighted the troubling trend of Republican-led states introducing extreme abortion bans, forcing women into dangerous situations. “Now, here we are, already hearing stories of women who were denied that choice by extreme Republican abortion bans,” she remarked.
The bill’s defeat has been celebrated by reproductive rights groups, including the National Women’s Law Center, whose president, Fatima Goss Graves, condemned the legislation as “perpetuating myths about abortion care” and “vilifying those who provide it.” She stressed that the majority of the electorate continues to support abortion rights and access, rejecting the restrictive policies championed by anti-abortion activists.
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Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, echoed these concerns, calling the bill “deliberately misleading” and “offensive” to both pregnant people and healthcare providers. “At a time when we are facing a national abortion access crisis, lawmakers should be focused on how to bring more care to the communities they serve, not spending their time spreading misinformation, criminalizing doctors, and inserting themselves further into medical decisions made by healthcare professionals,” she said.
As the Republican Party continues to push forward with its efforts to restrict reproductive rights, advocacy groups are committed to fighting back. On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the organisation All Above All released its Abortion Justice Playbook, a document aimed at advancing equitable, universal abortion access free from discrimination.
This latest battle in the ongoing fight for reproductive rights underscores the deep divisions in American politics over the issue of abortion. As lawmakers on both sides of the aisle continue to clash, reproductive rights activists remain determined to resist restrictive legislation and protect access to essential healthcare for all Americans.
