WASHINGTON, D.C.–The vote to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy failed in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, despite both Mississippi senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both Republicans, voting in favor of it.
The “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” required 60 votes in order to proceed to a final up-or-down vote. Senate Democrats filibustered the measure by a vote of 54-42.
“It is unfortunate that the Senate will not get the chance to vote on this basic human protection,” said Wicker in a news release from his camp. “Doctors use anesthesia when performing surgery on unborn children at five months because science has proven that they are capable of feeling pain. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world that allow late-term abortions, including North Korea and China. Although I continue to fight to protect the unborn, this legislation – at the very least – offers restrictions that every member of Congress should be willing to support.”
A November 2014 Quinnipiac poll found that 60 percent of Americans support this legislation, said the Wicker news release.
Wicker still has anti-abortion legislation pending. He is a lead author of S. 582, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which he introduced with Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), in February 2015. The measure would enact a permanent, government-wide prohibition of taxpayer funding for abortion.
“I am disappointed that the Senate has been denied the chance to consider this important bill, which is intended to protect the lives of a significant number of unborn children and has the support of the majority of Americans,” said Cochran. “It is my hope that we will be able to reconsider this measure to protect the unborn and limit the troubling occurrences of late-term abortions in this country.”
The United States is currently one of only seven countries, including China, Vietnam and North Korea, to allow for abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, said a Cochran news release. According to a November 2014 Quinnipiac poll, more than 60 percent of the American people support this legislation, which passed the House of Representatives with a 242-184 vote in May.
