Senate measure banning abortion funds defeated

Senate Republicans on Thursday failed to muster the 60 votes needed to approve a permanent ban on federal funding of abortion, a largely symbolic effort timed to coincide with the country’s largest annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington this week.

The Senate vote was the first on an anti-abortion measure since Republicans narrowly expanded their majority in the chamber in the 2018 midterms, and it marked a sharp contrast with House Democrats' plans to loosen restrictions on taxpayer support for the procedure.

Nearly all Democrats and two Republicans voted late Thursday afternoon against the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would make permanent the long-standing prohibitions on federal dollars for most abortions and place new restrictions on the procedure. Democratic Sens. Bob Casey and Joe Manchin voted for the funding ban, while Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against the measure, which was defeated 48-47.

“As thousands gather in our nation’s capital this week to March for Life, it is well past time Congress passed a comprehensive solution to the patchwork of regulations prohibiting federal funding for abortion services,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the bill’s sponsor. “Our legislation would create a permanent, government-wide prohibition on abortion funding so that not one taxpayer dollar goes toward the destruction of innocent human life.”

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