Today, the Senate, by a final vote of 48-47, failed to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. As reported by Life Site News, the bill, brought by Senator Roger Whicker (R-Miss.), would have “impose[d] a permanent, comprehensive ban on abortion funding, block[ed] tax dollars from financing abortions through Obamacare insurance plans, and enhance[d] disclosure requirements for plans on the exchange that cover abortion.” Unsurprisingly, GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted against the Act. Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania voted in favor; Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Lamar Alexander, Richard Burr, and Mike Crapo either did not vote or were not present. Despite the bill’s failure to garner enough votes to pass, Sen. Whicker said it served the purpose of getting his colleagues on record as to where they stand:
At the end of today’s vote, every single American will know where their Senator stands on the issue of taxpayer funding for abortion. Tax dollars should never be used to fund a procedure so many find reprehensible. #ProLife #WhyWeMarch
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) January 17, 2019
The majority of Americans do not agree with taxpayer funding of abortion. Yet, certain GOP senators and nearly all Democrat senators continue to vote in favor of forcing Americans to pay to fund the deaths of children in the womb.
Some Democrat Senators predictably characterized Whicker’s bill with the usual hyperbole. Sen. Kirsten Gillbrand said the bill was “attacking women,” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal characterized it as a “vote to block millions of American women from their constitutional right to access an abortion.” Neither elaborated on how attempting to keep taxpayers from being forced to fund the killing of preborn children does either of these things.
As the House of Representatives is currently under the control of Democrats where no pro-life bills are likely to survive, the vote today was largely, as Life Site News’ Calvin Freiburger put it, “symbolic,” held just “one day before pro-lifers gather in the nation’s capital for the March for Life.”
Roll Call of those voting in favor of forcing taxpayers to fund abortions are as follows:
Doug Jones, (D-Ala.)
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)
Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif.)
Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.)
Thomas Carper (D-Del.)
Chris Coons (D-Del.)
Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)
Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Angus King (I-Maine)
Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.)
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
Tina Smith (D-Minn.)
Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.)
Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)
Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
John Reed (D-R.I.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Timothy Kaine (D-Va.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
