A person holds a sign that reads “Codify Roe v. Wade,” as abortion rights activists protest after the Roe Vs coup. Wade before the US Supreme Court in downtown Los Angeles on June 24, 2022.
Frederic J Brown | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Thursday he would support a stay of the Senate’s filibuster rule to codify constitutional abortion rights, as enshrined in the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade was determined.
His comments represent critical support for the suspension of a key procedural hurdle that has so far prevented Senate Democrats from passing legislation that would make the Roe decision federal law.
Current Senate rules require the majority party to muster 60 votes to overcome a minority attempt to block the advance of a bill, a procedural measure known as a filibuster.
And with the Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, the GOP has so far had the power to block the slim Democratic majority from approving abortion legislation.
“I think we need Roe v. Codify Wade into law. And the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes for it,” Biden told reporters in Spain. “And when the filibuster gets in the way – like voting rights – we make an exception for that. We need an exception to the filibuster for this action.”
Biden’s comments come a week after the country’s highest court overturned 50 years of precedent and reversed its original view that women have a constitutional right to an abortion.
The court’s controversial ruling now gives states the power to make their own abortion laws without concern about violating the Roe opinion, which allowed abortions during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
Biden, like many Democrats, believes the court reversal “is a serious, serious issue that the Supreme Court has placed upon the United States.”
“I will do everything in my power to protect abortion and urge Congress and the public,” he said.
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