Senate bid to save Roe v. Wade falls to GOP-led filibuster

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, left, speaks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., as senators arrive before a procedural vote on the Women's Health Protection Act to codify the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation that would guarantee the constitutional right to abortion services after the disclosure of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate fell far short Wednesday in a rushed effort toward enshrining Roe v. Wade abortion access as federal law, blocked by a Republican filibuster in a blunt display of the nation’s partisan divide over the landmark court decision and the limits of legislative action.

The almost party-line tally promises to be just the first of several efforts in Congress to preserve the nearly 50-year-old court ruling, which declares a constitutional right to abortion services but is at serious risk of being overturned this summer by a conservative Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden said that Republicans “have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives.”