Bella's Monthly Abortion Blog
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who I honestly forgot was so radically right-wing, introduced S. 2311 back in October of 2017. I didn't pay too much attention to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act because I never thought it would make any headway.
I was so naive in October of 2017.
On Wednesday, Senator Mitch McConnell filed a cloture motion on the motion to proceed to debate with this bill. If you forgot what that series of words means, don't worry. If there's two things I know a lot about, it's abortion and cloture motions.
A cloture motion is a motion to close debate on something and move on. In this case, McConnell scheduled a cloture motion vote to ensure that the Senate will debate this. This means the bill has already gone through committee, and passed all the other hurdles. With a similar bill that passed the House last year, we're closer than we've been in years to a nationwide abortion ban.
The good thing about a cloture motion is it takes 60 Senators to pass such a motion and the Republicans only have a 51-seat majority.
The bad news is, the Democrats have let a lot of choice-ambivalent people take seats in the Senate in recent years (looking at you, Joe Manchin). Do we have enough choice-ambivalent people to flip the vote? Most likely not. But it never hurts to call your Senator and remind them that you, like 70% of America, support the right to a safe, legal, and accessible abortion.
Who Are The Choice-Ambivalent Senators?
Joe Manchin, 57% from Planned Parenthood
Bob Casey, 74% from Planned Parenthood