On monday the 29th of January was presented with the opportunity to observe a vote being held in the House of Senate in Washington DC concerning American abortion laws. The specifics of this proposed legislation would’ve been to ban abortions over 20 months into the pregnancy. This topic has been much discussed throughout Trump’s presidency due to the right wing, Christian, pro-life vice-president Mike Pence. House majority leader Kevin McCarthy claimed that the legislation “Will respect the sanctity of life and stop needless suffering”. One Senator likened late stage abortions to the human rights violations in North Korea.

The room was abuzz with dispute before the results were announced  - 51 in favour of restricting abortion laws and 49 against. Previously supposed presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz were present and voted in opposition - Cruz in favor and Sanders against. Despite that the restriction supporters had the majority it was too slim for any legislation to be passed.

This issue has resulted in constant disagreement, for the first time two senators from the same state - Minnesota - voted for conflicting results. However this has ceased to be an issue as Senator Franken who had been Minnesota's senator since 2009 was forced to step down from his position due to sexual misconduct allegations from six different women, after he placed his vote against reducing the opportunity a woman has to terminate a pregnancy. One key aspect of the vote was the lack of female perspective among the female pro-life senators not mentioning the biological and psychological impact of carrying an unwanted child let alone any significant female representation among their campaign