Roe v. Wade may be history but Monday’s anniversary of the 1973 decision is providing a powerful rallying point for both sides in the abortion wars.
Amid a showdown over funding the government, House Republican leaders brought up a pair of symbolic bills they said would protect pregnant women’s rights but that Democrats contending would further erode abortion access.
They’re the first such measures under Speaker Mike Johnson and stand no chance in the Democrat-controlled Senate or with President Biden. And they served to elevate an issue that’s been toxic for the GOP in post-Roe elections and that Republicans in swing districts would just as soon avoid.
But the priority assigned to them signals that the GOP majority isn’t finished, and perhaps telegraphs a new legislative twist less focused on restrictions on the procedure.
“We are working on the next chapter of our pro-life movement,” said Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) at a Thursday press conference.
Neither measure is an abortion ban. One would increase protections and resources for college or university students who carry a pregnancy to term.
The second would allow states to allocate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to “crisis pregnancy centers” — nonprofits that aim to dissuade pregnant people from having an abortion. The Biden administration last year proposed limiting federal funds for the facilities, which abortion rights advocates say often use misleading information.
Both bills passed the House on Thursday along party lines.
Roe’s anniversary is also serving as a rallying point in battleground states.
The annual Women’s March is being held this weekend in Phoenix, in a state that could decide control of the Senate and may put abortion rights on the ballot in November.
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