Abortion-Rights Bill Blocked in U.S. Senate

Multiple media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Vox and more, reported on the U.S. Senate’s failure to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). The Center is a long-time advocate of the federal bill, which would have created nationwide protections for abortion in the U.S. WHPA is especially crucial since abortion rights are at risk in the U.S., given that the Supreme Court is set to rule on the Center’s major abortion rights case and that the Court has failed to block a Texas ban that has ended most access to abortion care. 

The New York Times, Vox, and The Wall Street Journal quoted Center President and CEO Nancy Northup on the issue. Northup commented to Politico, “We’re going to continue advocating at the state level but eventually Congress is going to need to fix this. Not every state is going to be able to protect their citizens on this front.”

The Dallas Morning News quoted the Center’s senior counsel, Marc Hearron, who argued at the Supreme Court in the Texas case. He stated, “This is a preview of what will happen on a much larger scale if Roe falls. It’s now on Congress to act and do what the Supreme Court will not.” Amy Hagstrom Miller, the Center’s client in the Texas case, told Glamour that because abortion care is so restricted in Texas, calls to her clinic have turned from scheduling appointments into “grief support layered with travel logistics navigation.”

Read the media coverage of the Senate’s WHPA vote: 

• The New York Times: Republicans Block Abortion Rights Measure in Senate, 02.28.2022
• Vox: Why the Senate took a doomed vote on abortion rights, 03.01.2022
• The Wall Street Journal: Abortion-Rights Bill Blocked in Senate, 02.28.2022
• Politico: Democrats’ signature abortion rights bill falls short as SCOTUS ruling looms, 02.28.2022
• Dallas Morning News: Women’s Health Protection Act, pushed in response to Texas’ new abortion law, fails in U.S. Senate, 02.28.2022
• Glamour: Democrats Control Congress. Why Don’t They Legalize Abortion?, 02.28.2022