參議院阻止妊娠期超20周禁止墮胎議案

U.S. DeMocratic senators have blocked a bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, ensuring that the procedure stays legAl through the later terms of a woman's pregnancy.

Republican leaders in the Senate knew the bill had little chance to pass, but wanted to pressure Democrats to take a stance on abortion, particularly vulnerable Democrats facing re-election and from states that voted for President Donald Trump.

The vote largely fell along party lines, with only two Republicans voting against. Three Democrats voted for the measure. All three are from states that voted for Trump in the 2016 election.

More than half of the Senate's Democrats and independents are up for re-election this year, and 10 of them are in states Trump won美國民主黨參議員阻止通過了一項將禁止妊娠超過20個星期的孕婦墮胎的議案。女性在懷孕超過20周後因而仍然可以合法墮胎。

參議院的共和黨領導人事先就清楚通過議案的希望渺茫，但是希望能向民主黨人施壓，讓他們在墮胎問題上明確表態，特別是那些面臨選舉而在支持川普當選總統的選區無明顯優勢的民主黨參議員。

參議員基本根據所屬政黨投票，只有兩名共和黨參議員投了反對票。此外，3名民主黨參議員投了贊成票，這3名參議員都來自2016年總統大選把票投給川普的州。

參議院中一半民主黨和無黨派參議員今年都面臨連任選舉，其中10名參議員來自川普在2016年總統大選中獲勝的州。