Earlier this week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, NY) brought the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 (WHPA) for a vote AGAIN in the U.S. Senate knowing it would very likely fail. Praise God it indeed did FAIL in a 49-51 vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill to the Senate floor.

WHAT IS THE WOMEN’S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT?

WHPA is arguably the most radically extreme abortion law ever passed by a legislative body anywhere in the world. WHPA goes well beyond Roe v. Wade and would effectively codify into U.S. federal law an unlimited nationwide right to abortion up until birth and eradicate all State government restrictions on abortion. (Read WHPA HERE)

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF WHPA?

Let us refresh your memories on WHPA. Last September, we reported the dark day we never dreamed we would witness in the United States of America when the U.S. House of Representatives NARROWLY PASSED WHPA. The vote was on party lines with House Democrats voting almost unanimously to pass it. Praise God that when that vote was brought before the U.S. Senate, it FAILED!

Fast Forward to February 28, 2022, then May 11, 2022, when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought WHPA for a vote in the U.S. Senate where it praise God FAILED.

WHY WHPA DID NOT PASS

We are grateful to God that, thus far, WHPA has had virtually no chance of passage in the U.S. Senate. WHPA does not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate filibuster rule. Currently, WHPA does not even have the vote of the 50 Senate Democrats because pro-life Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia opposes the bill.

WHY BOTHER WITH WHPA SINCE DESTINED TO FAIL?

Senator Shumer has advanced WHPA despite each time knowing the vote would very likely fail. Pro-abortion law leaders are responding to last week’s leaked SCOTUS Dobbs draft majority opinion, indicating that the High Court is poised to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Democrat leaders want to spotlight each individual senator’s vote on WHPA to Americans in the hopes Republicans opposing it will be negatively impacted in the upcoming mid-term elections. “Republicans in Congress — not one of whom voted for this bill — have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives,” President Joe Biden said in a statement after the vote.

Even though the vote has failed several times now, the issue will not die or fade away. If pro-abortion leaders maintain control of the U.S. House and secure two more Senate seats this November, they will most assuredly seek to eliminate the chamber’s longstanding filibuster rules and be intent upon passing this radical abortion bill in the 2023 Congress.

WHPA IS WAY BEYOND ABORTIONS RIGHTS OF ROE — WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Many describe WHPA as an attempt to codify Roe v. Wade, but the reality is that WHPA goes well beyond the judicial abortion rights provided by SCOTUS in Roe. WHPA effectively allows abortion through all nine months of pregnancy by doing the following:

Making abortion legal for any reason at any time prior to fetal viability which occurs at about 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, therefore further allowing:

  • Gender selection abortions when a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy solely because she is having a baby girl or a baby boy
  • Abortions when a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy because her unborn baby has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome

 

Striking down common pro-life restrictive measures in states. Under WHPA, states would no longer be allowed to require:

  • Women to wait for 24 hours to have an abortion after their initial consultation
  • Doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital
  • Healthcare professionals who do not want to participate in abortions to have conscience protections to protect their jobs

 

Legalizing abortion up to the time a baby is born if a woman’s abortion provider concludes continuation of her pregnancy would pose a risk to her life or health (which can include emotional or mental health). Note that this provision significantly DOES NOT:

  • Require the “risk” to her health to be serious or substantial
  • Distinguish between a woman’s mental and physical health, thereby conveniently allowing the abortion provider to deem the woman emotionally unfit to have her baby because she would be troubled or traumatized if she did not get an abortion
  • Require the abortion provider to attempt to save the viable baby’s life if the baby survives the abortion

 

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYER

Please join us in praying that the morally unconscionable agenda by those perpetrating this evil culture of death in our country that WHPA disturbingly manifests would be thwarted. Please pray also that their hearts and minds would be transformed to value and love every unborn child.

We continue to pray for judges and legislators at the federal and state level to use their positions of leadership and authority to honor the Sanctity of Life. We give thanks for and pray for God’s protection over brave leaders who stand and speak for the unborn.

Council for Life