Senate vows vote on abortion, but not filibuster changes

Law Center

Furious Senate Democrats vowed Tuesday to vote on legislation to protect abortion access for millions of Americans, but without broader support from Republicans, Congress is essentially powerless to prevent the unraveling of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Amid fallout from a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the conservative justices “lied” to the Senate during confirmation hearings when they assured senators the case that since 1973 has allowed abortion access was settled law.

And two Republican senators who publicly support abortion access, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, but have voted to confirm conservative justices vented their frustrations at the court’s draft document and pushed their own bill to turn the Roe v. Wade ruling into law.

“The Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years — not just on women, but on all Americans,” Schumer said.

Murkowski told reporters on Capitol Hill that if the direction of the draft becomes the final opinion, “I will just tell you that it rocks my confidence in the court right now.”

The Congress, however, can do little to stop the court from undoing Roe v. Wade unless more Republicans join Democrats in voting to protect abortion access, which is almost certainly unlikely. Schumer said the Senate would vote next week on emerging legislation, but facing a certain filibuster by Republicans, the Democrats signaled they prefer to fight over the issue on the campaign trail this fall, rather than in Congress. The House is away this week.

Republicans have spent decades laser-focused on the high court, installing conservative justices intent on revisiting abortion and other social issues, including three ushered to confirmation by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell during Donald Trump’s presidency to build the court’s solid 6-3 majority.

Related listings

  • Moats named to temporary seat on West Virginia Supreme Court

    Moats named to temporary seat on West Virginia Supreme Court

    Law Center 02/07/2022

    A circuit judge has been appointed to a temporary seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court after the resignation of Justice Evan Jenkins. Chief Justice John Hutchison on Monday appointed Alan D. Moats to the high court. Moats has served in the judicia...

  • Court tosses ruling against Pennsylvania COVID-19 measures

    Court tosses ruling against Pennsylvania COVID-19 measures

    Law Center 08/11/2021

    A federal appeals court has dismissed a judge’s ruling that threw out Gov. Tom Wolf’s sweeping COVID-19 restrictions, saying the issue is now moot because statewide mitigation measures have expired and Pennsylvania voters have since const...

  • DESIGNING WEBSITES FOR START-UP LAW FIRMS

    DESIGNING WEBSITES FOR START-UP LAW FIRMS

    Law Center 07/26/2021

    One of Law Promo’s primary services is web design for smaller start-up law firms. We understand the hard work involved in setting up your own practice. Often the majority of your time is spent on the day-to-day logistics of the law firm. By des...

Business News