Abortion Rights Bill, in Rare Stand-Alone Vote, Stalls in Senate

Legislation to safeguard the right to abortion services in the U.S. came up short in a Senate procedural vote Monday, leaving the politically fraught dispute largely in the hands of the judiciary.

Abortion rights supporters say just getting a vote in the Senate is historic and shows Congress can’t sit quietly as the Supreme Court signaled it may erode almost a half-century of protections for abortion access. The vote itself is meant to remind Americans that their lawmakers could move to enshrine the right to access to abortion, the advocates say.

“Now they’ll know that Congress can do something,” Nancy ...