Republicans block abortion rights bill
Created: 05/11/2022, 23:19
Demonstrators protest in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington in favor of abortion rights.
© Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
A leaked document suggests the US Supreme Court is about to overturn liberal abortion laws.
An attempt by the Democrats to prevent this has failed for the time being.
Washington - As expected, the US Senate Democrats have failed in their attempt to secure the right to abortion with a federal law.
Republicans blocked a vote on the bill using a more than 100-year-old rule known as the filibuster.
The rule states that for many bills, 60 of the 100 senators must agree to an end to the debate before there can be a vote at all.
A success of the Democrats was not expected - the vote was primarily symbolic in nature.
There is no federal law in the United States that allows or prohibits abortion.
However, abortions are permitted at least until the fetus is viable - today around the 24th week.
The basis for this is a judgment by the US Supreme Court from 1973. At the beginning of May, the magazine "Politico" published the draft of the reasoning of the Supreme Court's judgement.
Conservative states want to ban abortion
It shows that the US Supreme Court is about to overturn the country's liberal abortion laws.
In the absence of federal legislation, the states would have jurisdiction.
Numerous conservative-governed states want to largely ban abortion.
more on the subject
Biden and the Abortion Debate: Eternal Dilemma as Opportunity?
The end of the liberal right to abortion is imminent in the USA
Thousands demonstrate against end of abortion law in USA
The US Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate.
But not even that stood: all Republicans voted against the end of the debate.
Democrat Joe Manchin joined them in a vote of 51 to 49.
Manchin had already blocked numerous reform plans by US President Joe Biden in the past.
Republicans in Congress would obstruct Americans' right to make highly personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives, Biden said.
He urged voters to consider this in November's congressional elections.
"If they do that, Congress can pass this legislation in January and put it on my desk for me to sign," Biden said.
dpa