President Biden on Thursday called on the Senate to make an exception to its obstruction rules to allow Congress to codify the protections against abortion and privacy rights previously granted under Roe v. Wade, the historic decision overturned by the Supreme Court last week.
The president expressed support for temporarily changing the rules of the Senate, which he generally opposes, during a press conference following the NATO summit in Madrid. The president also criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to deny the constitutional right to abortion as “destabilizing” and “outrageous.”
“The most important thing to be clear about is that we need to change, I think we codify Roe v. Wade into law, and the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that,” Biden told journalists. Thursday. “And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, it should be: we provide an exception for that. We need an exception to the filibuster for that action.”
At the moment, it seems there are not enough votes in the Senate to allow this exception to the rule. Vice President Kamala Harris echoed the president on Thursday.
“We need to codify Roe v. Wade into law. If the obstruction gets in the way, the Senate has to make an exception for doing so,” he tweeted.
The president insisted that the country is in a better position to lead the world now than ever before, but expressed his belief that the Supreme Court decision is the only problem with that position.
“America is better positioned than ever to lead the world,” Biden said. “We have the strongest economy in the world, our inflation rates are lower than those of other nations in the world. The only thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the U.S. Supreme Court in annulment. lar not only Roe v. but essentially challenging the right to privacy “.
The president said he believes it is a “serious problem the court has put in the United States” and expressed concern about the right to choose who to marry, among “a whole range of privacy-related issues.”
The president confirmed that he will meet with a group of governors on Friday when he returns to the White House on the next steps on access to abortion. Despite his personal apprehension about abortion in the past, the president dismissed any idea that he is not the Democratic Party’s best messenger on the issue.
“I’m the only president they have,” he said. “And I am very firm that I will do everything in my power that I can legally do in terms of executive orders, as well as push Congress and the public. The conclusion here is: if you care, if the survey data they are correct and you think that this decision of the court was an indignation or an important error: vote. Present and vote. Vote the free year and vote, vote, vote. That is how we will change it “.
The battle for abortion
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Kathryn Watson is a political journalist for CBS News Digital based in Washington, DC