Sen. Kyrsten Sinema joins bipartisan effort to restore federal abortion rights

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema helped introduce a bill Monday to reinstate federal abortion protections, but with only two Republican cosponsors the measure appears unlikely to advance.

The bill, dubbed the Reproductive Freedom for All Act, would seek to restore a nationwide right to an abortion that the Supreme Court erased in a June ruling that now leaves the issue to the states.

Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are among the GOP members who joined the legislative push. That still left the measure well short of the 10 Republicans needed to overcome a filibuster to block it. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also sponsored the bill.

While Sinema, D-Ariz., has a long record supporting abortion rights, she also opposes rescinding the legislative filibuster, even for the abortion issue.

“A woman’s health care decisions should be between her, her family, and her doctor,” she said in a written statement about the new bill. “Our bipartisan, commonsense legislation protects the health and wellbeing of women in Arizona and across the country by ensuring all women — no matter where they live — can access the health care they need and have the ability to make their own decisions about their futures.”

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Democrats, including Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., have generally indicated their support for federal abortion rights. Kelly called the June ruling "a giant step backward for our country."

Sinema has faced criticism from the political left for letting the filibuster thwart abortion rights and other contentious issues. Collins has also taken heat over her support for conservative justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh acknowledged during their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was "precedent," but avoided any suggestion that it was especially settled as a legal matter. Coney Barrett said she is a constitutional originalist, indicating a skepticism for rights not conferred directly in the Constitution.

In a statement, Collins sought to underscore her support for abortion rights after the high court's ruling.

“The Supreme Court’s recent abandonment of longstanding precedent erodes the reproductive rights on which women have relied for half a century. These basic rights need to be the same for American women regardless of the state in which they reside. Our bill would restore the right to obtain an abortion by enacting in federal law Roe v. Wade and other seminal Supreme Court decisions pertaining to reproductive freedom. In addition, our bill would protect access to contraception,” Collins said.

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyrsten Sinema helps introduce bill to restore federal abortion rights