Anti-Life U.S. senators failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) Monday. This bill would have banned states from passing Pro-Life laws and was originally passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last September in response to the life-saving Texas Heartbeat Act.
The bill died because it lacked the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster and move forward.
This is a victory for the Pro-Life movement because, despite its deceptive name, this legislation would undo every state Pro-Life law, including the Texas Heartbeat Act, and ushered in federal protection of nationwide abortion-on-demand up to the moment of birth.
No Republicans voted for the bill, and only one Democrat voted against the legislation. This radically anti-Life bill is extremely dangerous for several reasons. The WHPA would:
- Overturn the minimal Pro-Life advancements made at the federal level, including the federal prohibition on partial-birth abortions
- Nullify the many Pro-Life state laws already in effect that are currently protecting preborn children and their mothers from abortion
- Ban states from passing Pro-Life laws
- Eliminate the Hyde Amendment and other long-standing prohibitions on taxpayer funding of abortion
- Broaden the definition of who can provide an abortion beyond physicians to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants
- Remove conscience protections for healthcare professionals and institutions that object to abortion, and
- Enshrine Roe v. Wade in federal law, thereby legalizing abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy up to the moment of birth.
In Texas, passage of the WHPA would undo the historic victory of the Texas Heartbeat Act. The bill’s passage would also stop our other Pro-Life laws, including preventing the abortion industry from performing abortions on minor girls without their parents’ permission; banning abortion at 20 weeks when preborn children can feel pain; and prohibiting state and local funding of abortion providers and their affiliates. The Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinances, enforced by 39 cities across Texas, would be rendered null and void by the WHPA as well.
The emphasis on the WHPA comes as we await a decision from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case, which is being argued over Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, is the best chance for undermining or overturning Roe v. Wade in a generation. Already the abortion industry sees the writing on the wall from the Mississippi case and has made passage of the WHPA a priority, calling on pro-abortion individuals to pressure their elected officials to pass the bill. If SCOTUS overturns Roe, we will undoubtedly see Congressional Democrats once again attempting to pass this extreme bill.
For now, Texas Right to Life celebrates the defeat of the Women’s Health Protection Act. We will continue working to save more preborn children and their mothers from abortion as we anxiously await SCOTUS’ decision in Dobbs this summer.
