Senate Democrats recently failed to advance legislation that would have loosened government restrictions on abortion. 

On Feb. 28, the Senate voted on S.1975, also known as the Women's Health Protection Act. The Senate voted not to advance the bill by a vote of 46-48. Introduced in June 2021, S.1975 would prohibit "governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services."

If passed, this legislation would effectively override all state laws that limit or restrict abortion access. Abortion providers would have unlimited abilities to prescribe drugs, use "telemedicine" services to provide abortion, and perform abortions "immediately." Abortion providers could not be required to "comply with credentialing or other conditions that do not apply to providers whose services are medically comparable to abortions." Governments would not be able to restrict the time in a woman's pregnancy at which she could undergo an abortion.

“Catholics are repulsed and disgusted by the Democratic political charade which sought to ram through the most extreme abortion law ever contemplated,” CatholicVote President Brian Burch said. “This bill would allow abortion, for any reason, up to the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers. Further, it would wipe off the books all protections for concerned parents who would seek to protect their daughters from the grisly abortion industry.” 

“The U.S. Bishops have rightly called this law ‘deceptive’ and an ‘extreme violation of human rights.’ This bill is abortion on steroids. We will work tirelessly to hold every Senator that supported this barbaric legislation to account.”

Politico noted that the legislation "would have gone further than codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law by barring states from enacting restrictions on abortion both later and earlier in pregnancy."

This vote comes just months before a decision is expected in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which "involves a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks gestational age except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormality," according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Mississippi is seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson on Dec. 1, at which time Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out that the United States is one of only seven countries that allows abortion after 20 weeks into pregnancy. According to the National Review, the only other countries that allow abortion that late are North Korea, China, Vietnam, Canada, Singapore, and the Netherlands.