You may notice the vote maps on this site look all crazy now. They’re “cartograms,” distorted mathematically so that every state (for Senate votes) or congressional district (for House votes) gets an equal amount of space in the image. (In House vote maps, look how big California got, or see if you can find Manhattan, now the size of Montana!)

On Tuesday the Senate passed S. 403: Child Custody Protection Act 65 to 34 [vote details] to prohibit taking minors across state lines to circumvent parental notification laws for abortion. The Senate is now caught up with the House, which passed H.R. 748: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act in April 2005. Once they resolve their differences, some version of these bills is likely to become law.

House Republicans failed in their push for “Marriage Protection”, 236 to 187 (2/3 needed) [vote details] missing a two-thirds majority for passage of their proposed constitutional amendment. The Senate passed H.R. 810: Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, allowing more use of stem cells 63 to 37 [vote details].

The House extends the Voting Rights Act.