Washington DC - The fate of the US' annual defense bill is in question as the GOP-led House bowed to the right and voted to limit abortion access in the military on Friday.

The country's annual defense bill usually has an easier time passing in Congress each year. Yet this time around, Democrats have said they cannot support the bill after the House adopted a slew of conservative social policy provisions on Thursday.

The provisions include limits on abortions, gender transition procedures, and diversity training for those in the military.

The defense bill has long been considered a must-pass measure of bipartisan support, as it also provides pay raises for troops and sets important defense policies.

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However, in a tense debate Thursday, the House voted 221 to 213 to overturn a Pentagon policy guaranteeing abortion access to service members regardless of where they are stationed, as the New York Times reported. Republican lawmakers wedged the provision through over near-unanimous Democratic opposition.

On Friday, the House passed the measure with a vote of 219 to 210, with sweeping Republican support.

Democrats pledged to oppose the bill ahead of the vote on Friday.

Representative Mikie Sherrill said the abortion provision "puts servicewomen and military families' lives at risk by denying the basic right to travel for health care."

In a statement Thursday night, Democratic leaders including Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine M. Clark, and Pete Aguilar, pledged to vote against the bill.

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"Extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to hijack the historically bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to continue attacking reproductive freedom and jamming their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people," they said.

Republicans defended the bill's changes. "This illegal Biden-endorsed policy has no place in our military," said Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, who authored the proposal. "The taxpayer money is going directly to support abortions, and anyone in this chamber that says differently is blatantly lying to the American people."

The slew of socially conservative provisions adopted by Republicans, pushed by far right-leaning lawmakers, puts the passage of the annual defense bill in peril.

The bill now has little chance of passing in the Democratic-led Senate, which is expected to get into their version of the legislation next week.