U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2022.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2022. Reuters / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN

A bill that would make abortion legal throughout the United States was headed toward defeat in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, amid heavy Republican opposition.

Democrats had sought to head off an impending Supreme Court opinion that is expected to overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that established the national right to abortion, but was a protest gesture that never stood much chance of success.

With at least 41 votes in opposition to the bill, Democrats were falling short of the 60 out of 100 Senate votes needed to advance their "Women's Health Protection Act."

Before the vote, more than two dozen House Democrats, mainly women, marched from the House of Representatives to the Senate chanting "My body, my decision." They then entered the Senate chamber and sat quietly along a back wall while senators debated abortion rights.

Although the defeat was widely expected, Democrats hope the vote will help propel more of their candidates to victory in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, as public opinion polls show deep support among voters for Roe v. Wade.

That, in turn, could bolster future attempts to legalize abortion through legislation.

America's decades-old battle over abortion rights exploded anew last week when the Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of a draft opinion that signaled it will soon overturn Roe v. Wade.

Such a decision would leave it up to individual states to determine their abortion policies.

The high-court ruling is expected by the end of its current term, which usually concludes in late June.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech ahead of Wednesday's vote: "The question before the Senate is simple: As women's rights face their greatest threat in half a century, will this chamber step into the breach and protect the basic right to choose?

"Or will five unelected justices...take a fundamental right away from millions upon millions of women in this country?"

Republican Senator John Cornyn called the legislation "a radical abortion-on-demand bill" that goes further than Roe v. Wade and "essentially makes abortion available on demand from the time of conception to the time of delivery."