Filibuster's future, emergency abortions fuel Senate debate

WASHINGTON — Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, lawmakers remain sharply divided regarding access to emergency abortions when a woman is miscarrying.

That difference was on full display Tuesday as Republican lawmakers blocked a Democrat-led floor resolution that highlighted a need for emergency health care, including abortions. Hours earlier, Republican lawmakers in a Senate Finance Committee hearing argued that “misinformation” has created a culture where physicians are afraid to treat pregnant patients experiencing complications.

In Wisconsin, meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris called to eliminate the Senate filibuster to make it easier to codify Roe, echoing a call made earlier by President Joe Biden.

Emergency care debate

The Democratic resolution, sponsored by Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, expressed a sense of the Senate that every patient should have the right to emergency health care, including abortion, regardless of where they live. Murray said the resolution was a response to reports of women in Georgia dying after they weren’t able to get health care after incomplete miscarriages.

But Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., objected, saying, “There is no state in America where a woman faces prosecution for having an abortion” and “no state requires a woman to be actively dying to have an abortion.” He said on the Senate floor that false rhetoric has made people fear seeking or providing abortion care.

Earlier Tuesday, Kaitlyn Joshua, a mother from Baton Rouge, La., told Lankford and others on the Finance Committee that she began miscarrying when she was 11 weeks pregnant in summer 2022. Two hospitals turned her away as she bled.

Rather than provide medical care, physicians told Joshua they would “pray for her.” Louisiana bans abortion in all circumstances.

“It’s clear that this kind of pain is not isolated,” said Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “We’re going to have to get to the bottom of this. Because as far as I can tell, this is happening all over this country.”

Democrats and abortion advocates said despite the protections of EMTALA — a 1986 law that requires anyone entering an emergency room that receives Medicare funding to receive stabilizing medical care, including abortion — women are repeatedly being turned away at emergency rooms while experiencing miscarriages because of the threat of post-Roe abortion laws.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Idaho doctors must provide emergency abortions despite the state’s ban.

Finance Committee Republicans insisted that no law in the country mandates that a physician ignore the needs of pregnant women. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said that “misinformation particularly from the media” has created a culture where physicians are afraid to treat pregnant patients experiencing complications.

“I don’t care what the lawyers are saying, this is what is happening on the ground,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., retorted.

Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told the committee that there is nothing wrong with the law, and other sources, such as state medical associations, are not giving physicians clear guidance.

Several Republicans argued that the Senate Finance hearing was purely political and contributed to the spread of misinformation, pointing to the fact that the hearing was titled “Chaos and Control: How Trump Criminalized Women’s Health Care.”

The hearing marks the first time a former president’s name has been invoked in a Finance Committee hearing title.

“I would say the title of the hearing is more dangerous and threatens more lives than the laws that we are discussing,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, told the committee.

Filibuster’s future

Even as that debate occurred on Capitol Hill, Harris, speaking to Wisconsin Public Radio, called for the elimination of the Senate filibuster, specifically over the issue of Roe. The filibuster has been a main roadblock preventing either party from passing abortion-related laws.

Both parties have passed abortion-related measures in the House in recent years, but the 60-vote threshold has blocked any abortion legislation beyond a procedural vote.

“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said. “To actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom, and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.”

Her announcement echoes that of Biden, who also called for eliminating the filibuster to advance abortion legislation after the Dobbs decision.

Departing Sens. Joe Manchin III, I-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., both leaving Congress at the end of this year, have both expressed their disapproval.

But Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, a longtime holdout of changing the filibuster, said earlier this month that he is open to making an exception for an abortion-rights bill.

Still, the majority of Senate Democrats support eliminating the filibuster, and if Democrats maintain control of the Senate they may also be closer next year to making that change.

“If we have the majority in the Senate, we will also have the majority to codify Roe versus Wade. I’m planning on it,” Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., said on Tuesday.

“So this is, this is up to the voters now,” he added.

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