The legislation failed to advance in a 46-48 vote.
The bill’s failure in the Senate comes as Republican-led states have introduced and advanced bills across the nation that make it harder for women to access abortions and threaten health-care providers who perform the procedure.
Following that controversial Texas law taking effect, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had announced the House would take up the Women’s Health Protection Act.
Pelosi argued that the time had come to pass the legislation, considering Democrats’ control of the House — where the majority of members support abortion rights — and a Democrat serving as president.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, speaking at a news conference ahead of the vote, said abortion restrictions passed at the state-level “largely fly in the face of public opinion, common sense, and frankly common decency. We must fight to stop these insidious efforts to curtail a woman’s right to access safe, legal abortion.”
