House Democrats tee up votes on abortion bills

House Democrats are planning to vote next week on a pair of bills aimed at protecting access to abortion as lawmakers try to chart a path forward in the post-Roe world.

 

As lawmakers return to the Capitol for the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the House plans to vote on legislation that will protect women who need to travel to seek an abortion if they live in a state that now bans it.

 

Some Republican governors and anti-abortion groups are already eyeing laws that would criminalize women who try to seek abortions out of state.

 

A second bill is an updated version of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion rights into law and expand on Roe’s protections. That bill passed the House last fall after every Democrat except one voted in favor.

 

Filibuster looms: Both bills face long, if not impossible odds in the Senate since they don’t have enough support to overcome the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.

 

The Senate twice failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act after bringing it to a vote in both February and May of this year.