Gabriella Borter and Moira Warrenburton

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A bill that would protect abortion rights in America is expected to be defeated in a Senate procedural vote on Monday.

But with the future of abortion access in the country in doubt, Democratic leaders are facing pressure from abortion rights advocates to hold a vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act anyway.

Federal legislation is seen by reproductive rights advocates as the most effective way to codify the right of termination in the United States. This especially after conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices indicated that they may soon change constitutional protections.

The act is characterized as radical by abortion opponents who claim that it would repeal state laws intended to prevent abortions.

It was passed by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives last fall. The bill is supported by President Joe Biden. The bill is unlikely to become law as the Senate would have to support it.

Representatives of Congress in the 2020 election are likely to campaign on abortion.

Jeanne Mancini of March for Life national anti-abortion organization slammed the bill calling it “the most radical and unconstitutional abortion bill in American history.”

Nancy Northup is the Center for Reproductive Rights’ CEO. She stated that the Senate vote will allow for the legislation to pass, which would be great news for pro-abortion rights activists, even though the bill may not get passed in the current session.

In a telephone interview, she stated that “I believe it’s going be very important that senators are on the records.” The record will allow voters to evaluate them when they cast their votes.

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Since 1973’s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, the Constitution has protected the right to an abortion before fetal viability (typically around 23 to 24 weeks).

The Supreme Court indicated its willingness to strike down Roe v. Wade in December and allow Mississippi to ban abortion after fifteen weeks. It is likely that the court will make a decision on this case in spring.

The Guttmacher Institute is an advocacy group for abortion rights that claims 26 states will immediately seek to ban abortion in the event Roe is repealed.

The Women’s Health Protection Act, co-sponsored by 48 Senate Democrats, states that healthcare providers should be able to provide abortions without a number of barriers – including restrictions on abortions prior to fetal viability, which many states currently have in place. This law allows the U.S. to sue any state and government officials who break the laws.

Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who said that she supported codifying abortion protections, stated to the Los Angeles Times, September, that she wouldn’t support the bill in its current form because parts of it were too extreme and undermined “conscious exceptions” to existing law.

Representatives for Senators Joe Manchin (a Democrat, who has not indicated support for the bill) and Lisa Murkowski (a Republican, who supports limited abortion rights), did not respond immediately to inquiries for comment.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader and other Senate Democrats called this bill “critical legislation” because of the “unprecedented, unconscionable Republican attacks against reproductive rights in the United States.”