House Democrats file discharge petition to force vote on abortion access
Cami Mondeaux
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House Democrats filed a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation that would protect access to abortion nationwide, borrowing a strategy from their midterm election playbook that helped the party outperform expectations in 2022.
A trio of Democratic lawmakers filed the petition on Wednesday, seeking to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion access before fetal viability across the country. The effort is being led by Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), the co-chairwomen of the Pro-Choice Caucus, as well as the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA).
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“The U.S. Supreme Court has rolled back the clock on women’s rights in this country,” DeGette said on the House floor on Wednesday. “Everybody in this country deserves the freedom to make their own healthcare choices. Nobody should have to experience the pain and trauma that countless women have in this country as a result of the GOP efforts to criminalize abortion care in this country.”
Acknowledging their lack of influence as the minority party, Democrats have turned to a previously rare mechanism to trigger a floor vote even without the support of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Democratic leaders are hoping to use the vote to put vulnerable Republicans in an uncomfortable position, especially those running in districts that are supportive of abortion rights.
Under House rules, lawmakers can use a discharge petition to move a bill to the floor for consideration without committee approval if the legislation has been introduced and referred to a standing committee for at least 30 days. To do so, lawmakers must get a majority of the House, in this case 218 members, to sign a petition to consider the bill on the floor.
That means if all Democrats sign on to the discharge petitions, the party would only need signatures from five Republicans to bring the legislation to the floor. The bill is unlikely to garner that support, however, as no Republicans voted for the measure when it was brought to the floor last summer.
It’s also unclear whether all Democrats would be willing to sign on to the petition because members such as Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) have previously supported some abortion restrictions. A spokesperson for Cuellar did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington Examiner.
Democrats are nonetheless likely to use that vote as campaign fodder against Republicans running in districts that are more supportive of abortion rights.
“People should have the right to make decisions over their own bodies, especially healthcare decisions, not politicians or justices in a process that has been aided by Republicans in history,” Lee said. “It’s time for some accountability right here and right now.”
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The vote comes just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended nationwide access to abortion and returned the question of the procedure’s legality to the states.
Since doing so, lawmakers across the country have enacted further restrictions on the procedure or banned it altogether. At least 14 states have enacted partial or total bans, while others have restricted access.