All 50 Senate Democrats and the independents who caucus with them voted Sunday against an amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act that would federally define pregnancy as a condition unique to biological females.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the measure to the sweeping budget reconciliation bill in a marathon voting session in which Republicans introduced dozens of provisions that don’t have the votes to be enacted but force Democrats to take a stance on contentious issues. The GOP so far has only been successful in one matter, blocking a provision that would cap the monthly price of insulin at $35.
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“The only people capable of being pregnant are biological females, and therefore, I think federal pregnancy programs should be limited to biological females, and that’s what this would do,” Rubio said when introducing his amendment over 15 hours into the so-called vote-a-rama.
“A few minutes ago, I looked back across 5,500 years of human history, and so far, every single human pregnancy has been biological female,” Rubio continued. “And therefore, the only thing I’m trying to do is make sure that federal law is clear, since every pregnancy that’s ever existed has been in a biological females, and that our federal laws reflect that pregnancy programs are available to the only people who are capable of getting pregnant: biological females.”
All 50 Republicans voted in favor of this definition, while Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), speaking on behalf of the Democrats, accused Rubio of trying to derail the aims of the IRA while also taking swipes at Republican-led state legislatures that have passed laws restricting abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
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“This is a procedural attempt by Republicans to derail our ability to get this bill across the finish line and deliver for families in our country,” she said. “You know it’s actually outrageous that Republicans are trying to talk about pregnancy when in this country right now, they are forcing women to stay pregnant no matter their circumstances, pushing cruel and extreme abortion bans. Republicans are now resorting to tactics like this to distract from the fact that they don’t have any serious concerns for working so hard to oppose this bill that lowers costs, lowers emissions, and lowers the deficit.”
The evenly divided Senate is still in the midst of the vote-a-rama, in which senators may introduce an unlimited number of amendments to the piece of legislation. The IRA is expected to pass later Sunday, and the House is poised to take it up on Friday.
