There May Be No More Pro-Abortion House Republicans by Next Year
- Amanda Casanova ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor
- Updated Jun 29, 2018
![There May Be No More Pro-Abortion House Republicans by Next Year](https://i.swncdn.com/media/700w/crosswalk/resource/areas/crosswalk/resources/images/defaultimages/article-large-landscape.png)
By next year, there may no longer be any Republicans in the House of Representatives who support abortion rights, according to Politco.com.
Reps. Charlie Dent and Rodney Frelinghuysen are retiring from the House, and there is no Republican nominee in elections who supports abortion rights this year.
This means Congress could become deeply divided.
In the House, there are three remaining members who voted against abortion rights at some point. Those members are Reps. Dan Lipinski, Collin Peterson and Henry Cuellar.
Frelinghuysen was a conservative voter. He opposed measures to defund Planned Parenthood, but then supported eliminating those funds in 2015 after the release of undercover videos about the facilities.
According to Politico, neither Dent nor Frelinghuysen was “full-fledge” supporters of abortion rights. They both voted against a bill that would ban abortion at 20 weeks, but then both supported a proposal that would have permanently prohibited federal funding of abortion.
In the Senate, only two Republicans are expected to vote in favor of abortion rights: Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Democrats in the Senate that may vote in favor of abortion rights are Sens. Bob Casey, Joe Manchin and Joe Donnelly.
“For Republicans, the departure of the last abortion rights supporters in the House will be most noticeable during fights over government spending measures,” Politico said in its report. Those bills could include funding of Planned Parenthood and the Title X family planning program.
“The only thing they really only give a damn about is getting reelected, so they pander to their base,” said Rep. Richard Hanna, a New York Republican who supported abortion rights and retired in 2016. “Every congressman has over 700,000 people in their district, and if all you care about are the people who vote for you in the primary, you’re not much of a congressman.”
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/dkfielding
Publication date: June 29, 2018