One person holds a sign that says “Codify Roe v. Wade” while abortion rights activists protest after Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court in downtown Los Angeles on June 24, 2022.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Thursday he would support the suspension of the Senate obstruction rule to codify the constitutional right to abortion as set out in the 1973 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade.
His comments represent critical support for suspending a key procedural hurdle that has so far prevented Senate Democrats from passing legislation that would make Roe’s decision a federal law.
Current Senate rules require the majority party to garner 60 votes to overcome the minority’s attempt to block the advance of a bill, a procedural action known as filibuster.
And with the Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, so far the GOP has had the power to prevent the slim Democratic majority from passing abortion bills.
“I think we need to codify Roe v. Wade into law. And the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that,” Biden told reporters in Spain. “And if the filibuster intervenes, like the voting rights, we offer an exception for that. We need an exception from the filibuster for that action.”
Biden’s comments come a week after the nation’s highest court overturned 50 years of legal precedent and reversed her original view that women have a constitutional right to abortion. They also mark the first time the president has offered public support to change the obstruction rules to pass legislation codifying Roe v. Wade in law.
The controversial court ruling last week now gives states the power to decide their own abortion laws without worrying about violating Roe’s view, which had allowed abortion during the first two quarters of the pregnancy.
The president is scheduled to meet with state governors on Friday to discuss what they can do until federal Democrats cement their response. Echoing the belief of many Democrats, Biden added that the reversal of the court “is a serious and serious problem that the Supreme Court has put in the United States.”
“I will do everything in my power legally to protect abortion, as well as push Congress and the public,” he said.
Even Biden’s support does not mean Democrats can force abortion legislation through the Senate. Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have said they are against issues of Senate obstruction rules.
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