Expect 2015 to be the year in which pro-lifers will see their long-desired government actions to limit or prevent abortions on the federal level come to fruition.
With Republican takeover of the Senate and House, and strong Republican victories in state legislatures and governors' mansions, pro-life legislators are eyeing new bills that would restrict abortion rights, leading pro-choice advocates to fear an all-out assault on the 41-year-old Roe V. Wade decision,
The Wall Street Journal reports.
Last year, the House passed the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, but it was blocked from a Senate vote by Democrats. The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks, based on the belief that a fetus can feel pain at that point.
When they take over the Senate and House in January, GOP leaders have indicated that the bill, in some form, will be brought up again.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told the Journal, "There’s no reason our constituents should be kept from having their voices heard on the issue in the Senate, as well. I look forward to having the Senate consider similar legislation in the next Congress."
However, Republicans would run into several problems passing such legislation.
The 60-vote majority required to overcome a filibuster would require some Democratic participation, since the Republicans hold only a 54-seat majority, and President Barack Obama already has indicated he would veto such legislation.
The White House issued a statement saying, "This bill is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and shows contempt for women’s health and rights, the role doctors play in their patients’ health care decisions, and the Constitution," the Journal reports.
In a November
poll, Quinnipiac University indicated there is strong support for such legislation. Among voters asked whether they would support a ban on 20-week abortions except in cases of reported rape or incest, 60 percent said they would, opposed to 33 percent who said they would not.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards told the Journal, "The ultimate goal of these bans is to make abortion illegal in this country, and this would be a step along that path."
Several new GOP senators, including Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Thom Tillis, R-Norh Carolina, Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and newly most recently elected Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, ran on pro-life platforms and are expected to agitate for legislation restricting abortion in the coming year, the Journal notes.
If they are frustrated on the national level, pro-lifers can look to the states.
There, GOP-controlled legislatures likely will take action to limit providing of abortion prescription medication through telemedicine, pass laws restricting abortion after a heartbeat can be detected 6-7 weeks into a pregnancy, require abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges, and require parental permission for minors, ultrasounds or mandatory waiting periods before abortions are permitted,
Politico reports.
Given that Republicans now hold two-thirds of state legislatures and 31 governorships, pro-life organizations may find the states fertile battleground for attacking abortion in 2015.
The Journal notes that state legislatures already approved 231 abortion regulations in the last four years, as compared to just 189 between 2000-2010, including 20-week bans in 13 states.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, told the Journal that on the federal level, pro-lifers will not give up.
"Getting a vote is the beginning piece. It’s going to be tough to get to 60 votes and this may take a couple of rounds, but we’re going on offense."
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