A GOP-backed bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks failed to advance in the United States Senate after being blocked by the Democratic minority. The vote ended 54-42, falling short of the 60 votes necessary to move to a vote on legislation.
Two Republicans — Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Ill.) — joined 39 Democrats in voting to stop the measure. Three anti-abortion Democrats — Joe Machin (W. Va.), Robert Casey Jr. (Pa.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.) — voted to advance the bill.
Although Republican leaders knew the bill was unlikely to pass, they saw it as a way to send a message on abortion in the wake of demands from some conservatives that they provoke a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding.
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Republicans, who suffered a public relations backlash after prompting a shutdown over the Affordable Care Act two years ago, are torn between satisfying their socially conservative base and appealing to the great majority of Americans who do not believe the Planned Parenthood issue warrants a shutdown.
A number of GOP-controlled states have passed bans on abortions after 20 weeks in recent years. Republicans have described the measure as a humane response to research they say establishes that a fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks of gestation.
"It's legislation that would allow America to join the ranks of most civilized nations when it comes to protecting the most innocent and vulnerable of life," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said during remarks on the Senate floor, according to the Hill.
Abortion rights advocates have countered that such late-term abortions are rare but almost always performed in response to grave medical concerns relating to the mother or fetus.
"Passing this law would put women in unimaginable situations — needing to end a pregnancy for serious medical reasons, but unable to do so," Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens told the Hill.
Other common restrictions sought by anti-abortion groups in statehouses across the country have included requirements that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at area hospitals and that abortions be performed in clinics that meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Such restrictions have been trumpeted as safety measures by their advocates, while abortion rights supporters and medical groups have denounced them as unnecessary burdens with the intent to reduce the number of abortion providers.
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