Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.
For more information about the legislative process, see here.
| Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 26, 2012 | GA | HB 954 | Prohibits Abortions after 20 Weeks | Bill Passed - Senate (36 - 19) |
| March 26, 2012 | VA | Saslaw Amdt | Requires Reimbursement of the Full Cost of Ultrasounds Required Prior to Abortions | Amendment Rejected - Senate (19 - 20) |
| March 19, 2012 | ID | S 1387 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 12) |
| March 7, 2012 | GA | SB 460 | Exempts Religious Employers from Insurance Requirements for Coverage of Contraception | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 15) |
| March 7, 2012 | GA | SB 438 | Prohibits State Employee Insurance Coverage of Abortions | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 18) |
| March 6, 2012 | UT | HB 363 | Requires Abstinence-Only Sexual Education in Public Schools | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 10) |
| March 6, 2012 | OK | SB 1274 | Requires physicians inform abortion patients of fetal heartbeat | Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 8) |
| March 6, 2012 | AZ | SB 1359 | Prohibits Wrongful Birth Lawsuits | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 9) |
| Feb. 28, 2012 | VA | HB 462 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 19) |
| Feb. 22, 2012 | WI | SB 306 | Requires Physicians Performing Abortions to Determine if the Woman's Consent is Voluntary | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 15) |
| Feb. 15, 2012 | OK | SB 1433 | Defines life as beginning at conception | Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 8) |
| Feb. 15, 2012 | OK | SB 1433 | Defines life as beginning at conception | Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 8) |
| Feb. 14, 2012 | KY | SB 103 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 4) |
| Feb. 14, 2012 | KY | SB 103 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 4) |
| Feb. 8, 2012 | KY | SB 102 | Specifies Conditions for Informed Consent | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 5) |
| Feb. 8, 2012 | KY | SB 102 | Specifies Conditions for Informed Consent | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 5) |
| Feb. 1, 2012 | VA | SB 484 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 18) |
| Nov. 2, 2011 | WI | SB 237 | Amending Sexual Education Guidelines | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 15) |
| Oct. 20, 2011 | WI | SB 92 | Prohibits Abortion Coverage through Healthcare Insurance Exchanges | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 16) |
| Sept. 28, 2011 | MI | SB 160 | Bans Partial Birth/Late-Term Abortions | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (29 - 9) |
| Sept. 21, 2011 | MI | SB 160 | Bans Partial Birth/Late-Term Abortions | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 8) |
| July 13, 2011 | OH | HB 78 | Restrictions on Abortions | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 7) |
| June 30, 2011 | IA | HF 649 | Appropriations for Health and Human Services | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (27 - 18) |
| June 22, 2011 | NH | HB 329 | Revising Abortion Procedures for Unemancipated Minors | Veto Override Passed - Senate (17 - 7) |
| June 15, 2011 | NC | HB 854 | Abortion Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 20) |