Senator Elizabeth Warren laid into Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine for trying to stirke a compromise piece of legislation ahead of Democrats’ vote on legislation to codify Roe v Wade.
The Senate will hold a vote on legislation to codify the protection in Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that said seeking an abortion is a constitutional right. Democratic Senators say their proposed Women’s Health Protection Act is needed after a Supreme Court draft opinion leaked last month showing the court will likely overturn Roe v Wade.
But Ms Collins – who despite saying she supports abortion rights voted to confirm Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court – has raised concerns about whether Democrats’ legislation would require religious institutions like Catholic hospitals to perform an abortion.
In response, she is currently working on legislation with Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia and a Catholic, on compromise legislation. This comes after she had already proposed legislation with fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.
“We’re still working on it, I haven’t tried to do a count and people are going to want to look at the legislation,” Ms Collins told The Independent. “Obviously, I think it’s going to be difficult to get a consensus.”
But Ms Warren slammed Ms Collins for her approach.
“The bill that we’ll be voting on tomorrow reinstates Roe,” she said. “We should not be compromising on women’s equal protection under law.”
Democrats will hold the vote on Wednesday, despite the fact there is little chance that they can break a filibuster. On Tuesday, Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat who previously opposed abortion rights, announced he would vote for the Women’s Health Protection Act.
But when the legislation went to a vote earlier this year, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted against it.
