The Senate’s last vote before it headed home to campaign was an effort to push through legislation to limit young women’s access to abortion. But the procedural motion that required 60 votes failed by a vote of 57-42. Now, what surprised me is that the House had a chance last week to pass the Senate version of the bill, which would have sent it right off to President Bush to sign into law. They would have won. Case closed. But instead House leadership would only accept their own slightly more egregious bill than the Senate’s – forcing another vote in the Senate.

But what has it gotten them? The only thing that makes sense to me is that they think it is political fodder to use in the elections. Now they can spend the next month moaning about how the bill didn’t become law – and unfortunately most people won’t understand that there was a real opportunity, but the House Republicans let it blow by. Groups like Family Research Council are whining about “obstruction” in the Senate, and totally ignoring the opportunity that their allies in the House had to make this a law. Reality Check: if the House leadership had wanted to actually see this become law, they had every opportunity.

I always thought that anti-choice activists were driven by desire for policy success, but they sure didn’t take that route in this case.