Democrats' plan to codify abortion through legislation is dead on arrival in Senate

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Tuesday to bring legislation that legalizes abortion to a vote in the Senate. Unfortunately for pro-abortion lawmakers, the effort is already doomed to fail.

What are the details?

After a leaked opinion draft from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito showed the Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion precedents, Democratic lawmakers began calling for abortion to be codified into federal law.

"It is our intention for the Senate to hold a vote on legislation to codify the right to an abortion in law," Schumer said from the Senate floor.

However, the purpose of such a vote, Democratic Whip Senator Dick Durbin revealed, is actually more about political theatrics than legalizing abortion. "More than anything we want to make sure every senator is on the record in terms of their position on Roe and on the decision of the court," Durbin admitted, Politico reported.

Still, to pass a law codifying abortion, Democrats would need 60 votes — or just 50 votes if the filibuster is abolished.

But unfortunately for Democrats, the moderate senators who have thus far refused to support abolishing the filibuster reiterated their positions on Tuesday.

What did those senators say?

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said, "The filibuster is the only protection we have in democracy." He did not comment specifically on the leaked opinion.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) also signaled that she will not support abolishing the filibuster, implicitly referring to the procedure and saying it has protected women's health.

"Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women’s access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever," Sinema said in a statement.

And a spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who recently introduced a bill to codify the Supreme Court's abortion precedents, told reporters that Collins' position on the filibuster has not changed in light of the leaked opinion draft.

"Senator Collins’ position on the filibuster is unchanged," said Anne Clark, a spokeswoman for Collins.

With a 50-50 split Senate and moderate lawmakers unwilling to abolish the filibuster, Democrats' attempt to save abortion will be dead on arrival.