House Republicans Consider Federal Abortion Laws Prior To Midterms

House Republicans are looking ahead past the midterm elections where they are expected to take back the majority and have begun deliberating a possible national abortion restriction following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade at the end of June.

They are considering a 15-week abortion ban, bringing down the timeline from a 20-week ban outlined in bills House Republicans passed in 2015 and 2017.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) said he would support a 15-week ban.

Even if the House did pass a bill with those provisions, it is unlikely to pass the 60-vote threshold to avoid the filibuster in the Senate and all indications from President Joe Biden signal that he would veto the bill should it somehow land on his desk. Although the bill probably doesn’t have a future as long as a Democrat is the president, it could indicate a bill that may be introduced should the Republicans win back the White House and the majority in the House and Senate in 2024.

Some House Republicans, however, don’t think they should push a federal abortion law.

“We’ve tipped the power of the last few years too much to Washington, D.C., which our founders warned us about that,” Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) said. “And the real engagement should be at the state level, where citizens can take a day off from work and go petition — truly exercise their First Amendment rights to go petition their government at their state capitals and their legislators that live in their hometown.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has also voiced support for leaving it up to the state level.