The Democratic legislation to enshrine abortion rights into federal law looks set to fail in the Senate this afternoon by a vote of 49 - 51, after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said he would join Republicans to vote no.
Manchin, a moderate Democrat, has been speaking with reporters in the Senate hallway, saying that he believes the legislation as presented goes too far. I would vote for a Roe v Wade codification if it was today. I was hopeful for that, but yesterday I found out that wasn't going to be, he said.
The legislation would codify the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that gave constitutional protection to abortion rights and prevent states from acting to remove or alter those protections in the future.
Manchin also voted against the 2021 women's health protection act earlier this year, so his opposition is not entirely surprising.
The bill was expected to fail today because Democrats don't have the 60 votes necessary to defeat a Republican filibuster. With Manchin's opposition, the final vote to invoke cloture on the bill will likely be 49 to 51, with all Republicans voting against the measure.
Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have said they would support codifying Roe, but they do not support the women's health protection act because they consider it too expansive.
Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic senator for Wisconsin and co-sponsor of the legislation, said Manchin was wrong.
Baldwin told CNN that he thinks the bill is wrong when he says it goes a lot further.
It keeps the states from interfering with Roe v Wade and restricting access.
That is one of the additional provisions of the women's health protection act, and they need to be there because you look how many states have taken an action like the Texas law that allows vigilantes to go out and try to find anyone who aided or abetted abortion.