Senators reintroduce bipartisan bill to codify Roe

A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill to codify abortion protections on Thursday following President Biden’s call on Congress to pass legislation ensuring abortion access in his State of the Union address.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced the Reproductive Freedom for All Act, which would block states from enacting laws that would impose an “undue burden” on previability abortions and protect access to contraception.

The senators previously introduced the bill in August, with Kaine calling it a “bipartisan compromise” to ensure reproductive freedom.

Throughout 2022, Democratic attempts to advance legislation that would enshrine access to abortions into federal law failed to advance in the evenly split Senate. Republicans in support of abortion access objected to what they felt were over-encompassing bills, while moderate Democrats Sinema, who recently changed her party affiliation, and Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) opposed abolishing the filibuster in order to pass the proposed laws.

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Biden urged Congress to “restore the right that was taken away in [the overturning of] Roe v. Wade.” He also made it clear that he would veto any federal abortion bans that reached his desk.

The House passed two bills last year aimed at protecting abortion access, the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act. No Republicans voted for the Women’s Health Protection Act, but a handful of GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to vote for the latter bill, which protected the ability to travel out-of-state to obtain abortion services.

While Democrats have more votes in the Senate this time around, the bill is unlikely to pass the House, where Republicans control a 222-212 majority.