Senate Democrats Thwart GOP’s ‘Misleading’ Attack on Reproductive Rights

On Wednesday, U.S. Senate Democrats successfully blocked a Republican-initiated bill from reaching a final vote. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the bill, suggesting that under President Donald Trump’s new administration, it heralds a “golden age for the extreme, anti-choice faction.”

Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the bill on the Senate floor, stating, “This bill epitomizes harm: it undermines women’s health care with misleading claims and fear tactics, and it increases the legal jeopardy for doctors over actions that are already unlawful.” The vote ended 52-47, falling short of the 60 votes required to push the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 6) to a final vote.

The bill, proposed by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), aimed to “prevent healthcare professionals from failing to provide adequate care to a child born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion,” with penalties including fines and imprisonment up to five years. Health professionals and rights advocates have slammed the bill as grossly deceptive.

Schumer added, “Much of the anti-choice agenda from the far-right is driven by individuals who are largely ignorant of the realities women face during pregnancy.” He described the circumstances addressed by the bill as among the most emotionally distressing situations a woman can face, involving critical and rare complications during pregnancy. “This bill heartlessly overrides the judgments of medical professionals and the desires of countless families, imposing an extreme ideological view on their decisions,” he remarked.

While mourning the loss of Cecile Richards, a prominent leader of Planned Parenthood who passed away earlier this week, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) expressed her indignation on Wednesday: “With so many critical issues like reducing healthcare costs, expanding childcare, and supporting families, it’s disgraceful that Republicans are using their first week in power to attack women, criminalize doctors, and spread falsehoods about abortion.”

“This is not the reality of how abortion operates; Republicans are aware of this,” emphasized Murray, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. “All infants are already protected by law, regardless of birth circumstances. Doctors are already legally bound to provide proper medical care. It’s evident that this deceptive Republican bill is destined to fail.”

“In the last vote, I discussed something Republicans seem to ignore: the challenges faced by a pregnant woman who learns her baby has a fatal condition and won’t survive,” she continued. “Yet here we are again, hearing about women being denied their right to choose due to extreme Republican-led abortion restrictions.”

The vote coincided with the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that had secured abortion rights nationwide until its overturn by conservative justices in 2022, sparking new state-level abortion restrictions.

“It’s no coincidence that on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade—a pivotal case for freedom, equality, and bodily autonomy—Congressional Republicans chose to promote a bill that perpetuates myths about abortion, shames seekers of such medical care, and demonizes providers,” stated Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center.

She noted, “The majority of voters continue to support abortion rights and access. Americans have witnessed the harsh consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe—from forced travel out of state for necessary care to the denial of critical medical services and even deaths, as well as a doctor shortage worsening our maternal health crisis. That’s why opponents of abortion rights depend on misinformation to advance their radical agenda.”

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, also commented on the widespread healthcare crisis highlighted by the failed Republican bill. “This bill presents a distorted and offensive view towards pregnant individuals and the medical staff who care for them,” she remarked. “In the midst of a national crisis over abortion access, lawmakers should be focusing on how to increase care availability rather than wasting time on spreading lies, criminalizing medical professionals, and meddling in medical decisions.”

“This bill does not reflect the actual workings of medical care,” she added, “and it is irresponsible and dangerous to suggest otherwise.”

As the GOP continues efforts to limit reproductive rights, advocacy organizations are gearing up to resist. On the anniversary of Roe, All* Above All released an Abortion Justice Playbook, described by the organization’s president, Nourbese Flint, as “our plan for a future where abortion access is equitable, universal, and free from discrimination.”