On Wednesday afternoon, lawmakers will vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would federally enshrine the right to an abortion. The bill has been up for a vote in the Senate in the past and all Democrats except Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of it. Unsurprisingly, Manchin has indicated once again that he won’t support the WHPA. “We’re going to be voting on a piece of legislation, which I will not vote for today,” Manchin told reporters. “But I would vote for a Roe v. Wade codification if it was today. I was hopeful for that.”
Looking at the text of the bill, it’s easy to see Manchin is just being pedantic at best. Though Roe isn’t mentioned once, it’s crystal clear that the purpose of the WHPA is “to protect a person’s ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services.” Perhaps if Manchin’s fortune came from a lucrative for-profit company that offered reproductive health care, he’d somehow muster the ability to give more of a shit.
Then there’s House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who represents a state hellbent on passing some of the most archaic, dangerous anti-abortion legislation in the country. Were the state of Louisiana to adopt HB813, known as the “Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act of 2022,” those who terminate a pregnancy could be charged with homicide. Scalise has repeatedly expressed his support for outlawing abortions, though he dodged that question recently when asked about whether he supported a federal ban.
Scalise did say he supports the leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade but then fixed his focus onto the type of respectability politics most Republicans care more about than the actual people they represent. He was scandalized by the leak and worried about people protesting outside of Supreme Court justices’ homes—something he recognized as illegal. For people facing the very real threat of a loss of bodily autonomy from a policy that has the capacity to endanger their lives, thinking about the most diplomatic way to address the likes of alleged sex pest Brett Kavanaugh probably isn’t high on their list of actions.
Christina Reynolds, VP of Communications at EMILY's List, talks about spending $150 million to center abortion rights in this November’s elections on Daily Kos’ The Brief podcast
“If you think about where we are, we’re a party who defends life,” Scalise concluded. “And we would celebrate a ruling that allows elected leaders to defend life and debate an open public on what those laws should be in every state and in Washington.” The only thing that will make it even more abundantly clear that the GOP’s defense of life doesn’t extend to the people who actually give birth is their expected votes against the WHPA. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren said yesterday, this is a crucial moment in which voters will immediately know who of their elected officials “will stand by as [people’s] constitutional rights are brazenly stripped away.”