Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar recently voiced her continued disapproval of the Supreme Court’s decision last month to reverse the Roe v. Wade ruling.
She labeled both the court and anti-abortion GOP politicians as “extremists.”
A New Bill
Omar’s criticism is a reaction to the House’s decision to enact legislation that’d codify abortion laws and preserve reproductive rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn an earlier ruling that allowed abortion across the country.
However, given the current makeup of the Senate, it is quite unlikely that this bill would pass.
Grateful to everyone who is helping us fight against extremists who want to control every aspect of our lives.
Freedom is a cornerstone of our country and we won’t go back. #CodifyRoe pic.twitter.com/9I4n48vmtX
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 16, 2022
In a tweet, Omar expressed her gratitude toward everyone who is helping in the fight against extremists who would like to control all aspects of women’s lives.
Omar said she is appreciative of everyone who is working to help fight extremists, because freedom is a core component of the country and they won’t go back.
On Friday, the House of Representatives gave final approval to the Women’s Health Protection Act, a comprehensive abortion rights law that was previously approved by the chamber during this session of Congress.
Congress had previously shown interest in the measure, but after the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, lawmakers rekindled their attempts to explore the bill as a possible legislative priority.
Breaking: The House just passed the Women's Health Protection Act to protect the right to an abortion, 219 to 210.
All Republicans and one Democrat voted against the bill.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 15, 2022
Critics of the bill argue it would go further than what Roe authorized by trying to undo state-level restrictions, which had heretofore been reaffirmed by the courts.
People in favor of the bill argue that it would codify the benchmarks originally appointed by Roe into law, while opponents of the bill assert that it would go past what Roe permitted.
Goes Beyond Roe
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), an abortion critic who has served in the House for a significant amount of time, made statements on the floor of the House, noting the bill “goes well beyond the American majority and far beyond Roe v. Wade.”
The bill, approved by the House of Representatives the previous year, was defeated in the Senate in February.
It was unable to clear the chamber’s 60-vote cloture threshold during a Senate vote to proceed to debate and it was defeated by a vote of 46-48.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is personally against abortion, but supported Roe as a legal standard, was against the bill because he thought it went too far.
Regardless of whether Manchin were to switch his opinion on the bill to the exclusion of Roe, both himself and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have stated since the Dobbs judgment that they are opposed to abolishing the filibuster.
This leaves the measure with no way forward to succeed in the Senate, where it failed even to garner a majority vote.
This article appeared in Our Patriot and has been published here with permission.
