Democrats in the Senate have banded together to stop a Republican bill aimed at banning any abortion from taking place after 20 weeks of gestation.
The Senate voted 54-42 to advance the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that would ban most late term abortions; 60 votes were needed to advance the bill.
Republicans decried the Democrat’s unwillingness to accept medical research proving that a child of 20 weeks can feel pain.
Senator Mitch McConnell voted to allow a final vote on the 20 week abortion ban.
“We in this chamber are never going to agree completely on the abortion question,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “But we should at least be able to agree that if an unborn child has reached the point where he or she can feel pain, that child’s life deserves protection.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham pointed out the United States was only one of seven countries in the world that allow abortion after 20 weeks such as North Korea, China and Vietnam.
“The baby feels excruciating pain,” said Sen. Graham. “Is it okay to allow abortion on demand at 20 weeks knowing what we know now?”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called the vote a “waste of time” and said Republicans were just trying to play up to the Pope.
Senator Harry Reid voted against allowing the 20 week abortion ban to come to a final vote.
“I guess they want to do that before the pope gets here,” Reid said, “But it’s not going to change the pope, how he feels about the fact that republicans have ignored poor people in America. It’s not going to change the Pope, how he feels about what’s happening to our great world that we live in, that we know dealing with climate change.”
Senator Chuck Grassley said the Pope’s visit wasn’t an impetus for the bill but his visit does remind everyone of “how very important it is to show compassion and concern for the most innocent and vulnerable among us.”
“Unborn children who fall into this category are entitled to the same dignity all human beings share,” he told the Washington Post. “This is true even when their presence might be uncomfortable or create difficulties, the Pope reminds us.”
The vote had a few dissenters from each party. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois voted to stop the bill from advancing to an up or down vote. On the Democratic side, Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of cloture.
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