WASHINGTON, D.C. (KERO) — The battle over abortion rights appears to be heading to the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he plans to file a motion for a procedural vote Monday which could see a full Senate vote on the controversial issue Wednesday.
The Women's Health Protection Act bill to codify Roe pushed by Schumer and other Senate Democrats would need at least ten Republican votes to overcome a GOP filibuster. Hitting that threshold is unlikely.
According to the Cornell Law School, to "codify" a law means "to arrange laws or rules into a systematic code. The process of codification can involve taking judicial decisions or legislative acts and turning them into codified law. This process does not necessarily create new law, it merely arranges existing law, usually by subject, into a code. When interpreting a codified law, courts sometimes refer back to the original legislation or judicial proceeding in order to understand the intent of the creator of the law. The codification of law helps identify inconsistent laws, duplicate laws, and ambiguous laws. Codification creates a uniform source that is easy to access for both professionals and the lay public."
Currently, there is no law that states that women have a right to abortion without restriction. The Women's Health Protection Act would provide the same protections that Roe v. Wade through a law that would be binding for all states.
"If America's people, America's women and men who love them do not fight right now, we will lose the basic right to make decisions, to have bodily autonomy, and to decide what our futures look like," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York.
A recent poll taken by CNN found that 66-percent of Americans believe that Roe should not be struck down completely. Another majority - 59-percent - would support Congress establishing a nationwide right to abortion.
