JUST IN: Senate Torpedoes Abortion Access Bill

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The Senate failed to advance a bill on Wednesday that aims to protect abortion access.

The vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act was 49-51, along party lines with the exception of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who joined Republicans in voting against advancing the bill. “We’re going to be voting for a piece of legislation that I will not be voting for today,” Manchin told reporters.

The ill-fated measure would guarantee the ability of providers to conduct abortions and also protect the rights of individuals to have them.

“This is not an abstract exercise, it’s as real and as urgent as it gets,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday. Schumer put the bill to a vote even though it was clear it did not have the necessary 60 votes to invoke cloture.

The vote comes in the wake of a leaked draft opinion in a pending Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Based on the opinion, which is expected to be formally handed down in June, the court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion.

This is a developing story.