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WASHINGTON – The House passed a piece of legislation Friday which would codify the right to an abortion into federal law.
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill that would guarantee abortion access and effectively codify the provisions of Roe v. Wade into federal law. .
However, the 218-211 vote is being seen as largely symbolic, as the Women's Health Protection Act will likely fail in the Senate, where it requires 60 affirmative votes to break through a filibuster.
The legislation was introduced soon after the passage of a Texas law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The vote also sets up reproductive rights as a major election issue going into the 2022 midterms. It's unclear if every Senate Democrat would support the legislation, though there are no signs that any Republican would vote in favor.
Republican Rep. Susan Collins of Maine, who has taken pro-choice positions in the past, has said she would vote against the measure.
Collins said she believes the bill "goes way beyond" codifying Roe v. Wade into law.
"It would severely weaken the conscious exceptions that are in the current law," she said.
In December, the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
A ruling to uphold the law could override the precedent set in 1973 by Roe v. Wade.
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