Senate Democrat leaders made expanding late-term abortions a higher priority than the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine on Monday when they demanded a vote on legislation nicknamed the Abortion Without Limits Up to Birth Act.
According to The Blaze, the radical pro-abortion bill was the first major item on the U.S. Senate agenda when lawmakers returned from recess this week, not aid for the victims of the new war between Russia and Ukraine.
Democrat leaders and many mainstream news outlets portray the misleadingly named Women’s Health Protection Act as an effort to simply “codify the right to an abortion” across the U.S. in response to the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade this year. But pro-life leaders say the bill would go beyond Roe by getting rid of state laws that protect unborn babies from late-term and partial-birth abortions and bans on taxpayer funding for abortions.
The bill passed the House last year, but it is not expected to pass the Senate, which Democrats control by only a narrow majority. A vote is scheduled for Monday afternoon, but at least 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster.
Even a pro-abortion Republican lawmaker criticized Senate leaders, saying now is not the time to push pro-abortion legislation, according to the report.
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“The Senate must focus on that growing crisis as we return to session tomorrow. A substantial and bipartisan package with aid for Ukraine and penalties for Russia cannot wait,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a pro-abortion Republican from Alaska, wrote Sunday on Twitter.
Murkowski said she supports abortion, but the pro-abortion bill is “set up to fail” and the war is the real crisis right now.
Pro-life organizations, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and others are urging the Senate to reject the radical pro-abortion bill. Some are calling it the Abortion Without Limits Up to Birth Act.
If passed, the bill would:
- Eliminate all state and federal parental consent laws in relation to abortion
- Eliminate all state informed consent laws, including those that allow women to view an ultrasound prior to abortion
- Prevent states from passing laws to protect babies at 20 weeks, thereby joining countries like North Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands in not protecting unborn children later in development
- Force doctors and nurses opposed to abortion to lose their jobs, and Catholic hospitals could lose public funds unless they perform abortions
- Eliminate decades-long limitations on direct taxpayer funding of abortion – including the popular Hyde Amendment, which has saved more than 2 million lives since enacted
In short, the legislation would overturn all federal and state pro-life laws and prohibit elected officials from even introducing pro-life legislation.
Polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans support strong limits on abortion, especially after the first trimester, and oppose taxpayer funding for abortions.
A 2022 Marist poll found that just 36 percent of Americans believe abortions should be legal without any restrictions. Additionally, 73 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions.
Similarly, a 2021 Associated Press poll found that 65 percent believe second-trimester abortions should be illegal and 80 percent believe they should be illegal in the third trimester.
