The Women’s Health Protection Act, which would legalize abortion throughout the United States, failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance in the US Senate on Wednesday on a vote of 49-51.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, the last senator to vote, sided with all 50 Republicans to block the measure. While the bill does not have the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster in the 50-50 Senate it marks Democrats’ first legislative attempt to protect the right to abortion by law.
