Control of the Senate paved the way for the Supreme Court’s abortion decision. It’s also at stake in Pa.’s Senate race.

WASHINGTON — The end of Roe v. Wade was made possible by key elections that handed Republicans control of the Senate at critical times.

And it illustrates the profound consequences that can result from individual races, including this fall’s Pennsylvania Senate contest.

A GOP majority in the Senate in 2016 blocked Democratic President Barack Obama from filling a Supreme Court vacancy and swinging the court’s balance to the left. Instead, that same GOP majority, working with then-President Donald Trump, used the next four years to install three conservative justices who were pivotal in Friday’s 5-4 decision on abortion. Had Democrats been able to confirm Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland, it could have tipped the outcome the other way.

The difference was that Republicans, by holding the Senate majority, were able to prevent so much as a hearing, let alone a vote, on Garland’s nomination. And they were later able to power through the confirmations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

That power play illustrates one of the most important, but often overlooked, stakes of Senate elections like this year’s in Pennsylvania: simply controlling the chamber.

» READ MORE: Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, imperiling abortion access nationwide

The party that holds the majority decides what proposals even get a vote, let alone pass. And it decides what nominees can be confirmed to the Supreme Court, which hands down momentous decisions such as the one released Friday on abortion, and in the recent past has made sweeping rulings on voting, gun laws, and same-sex marriage.

With a 50-50 Senate split, Pennsylvania’s race to replace Republican Sen. Pat Toomey could help decide which party holds the majority for the next two years, and if President Joe Biden is able to fill any Supreme Court vacancies that may arise before 2025. He has so far appointed one justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the high court, but she replaced a fellow liberal, Justice Stephen Breyer, so the ideological balance of the court was unchanged.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate, immediately pointed to abortion as a critical dividing line between him and GOP nominee Mehmet Oz.

“If there were any doubts left about what’s at stake in this race, it became crystal clear today. The right to an abortion will be on the ballot this November in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I will protect abortion rights. Dr. Oz will take them away. It’s that simple.”

» READ MORE: Where Pa.’s 2022 candidates for governor and Senate stand on abortion

Oz said during the GOP primary that he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the pregnant person.

“I respect those with a different view, but as a heart surgeon I’ve held the smallest of human hearts in the palm of my hand and will defend the sanctity of life,” he said in a statement Friday. “I am relieved that protecting the lives of America’s unborn children will once again be decided by the people through their elected representatives.”

It’s unlikely either party will be able to enact federal laws ensuring or restricting abortion rights through Congress, given that any such legislation would require 60 Senate votes, and neither party is likely to reach that threshold (though Fetterman and some other Democrats have called for eliminating the filibuster, the rule that requires a 60-vote supermajority).

But Democrats believe Friday’s decision will energize their voters by showing the stakes of every election, and sparking anger from voters who support abortion rights.

Each year’s elections have the power to shape the Supreme Court, and that, in turn, can shape the country.