President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he would support making an exception to the filibuster (Pictures: Rex / PA)
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would support making an exception to the Senate’s filibuster, the 60-vote threshold to pass laws, in order to codify Roe v Wade.
Nearly a week after the Supreme Court ended the protection for people to seek legal abortions, Biden was asked during a NATO summit what executive action he would use to strengthen abortion rights.
‘The most important thing… we have to change, I believe, we have to codify Roe v Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,’ Biden said.
Biden shared the idea during a press conference in Madrid, Spain when asked if he would declare a public health emergency in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the 1973 landmark decision.
The US Senate’s filibuster requires 60 votes to move to a final vote on most pieces of legislation. Many of the more progressive Democrats have sought to eliminate the filibuster in order to be able to pass pieces of legislation that would otherwise be blocked.
A change to the filibuster would make it possible for abortion rights to be codified into law with a majority vote.
‘If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision,’ Biden added.
In January, Biden said he supported ending the filibuster to allow passage of federal voting rights legislation, though his call for action never gained traction.
To eliminate the filibuster, Biden would need all 50 Democrats to support the measure, which would be a tough sell to more moderate Democrats Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, who have previously expressed concerns about changing the rule.
In his remarks, Biden clarified that he believes the right to privacy overall should be codified into law, which would not only protect abortion rights on the federal level, but would protect same-sex marriage and access to contraceptives.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source:: Metro
