While speaking at a press conference from the NATO summit in Spain on Thursday, President Joe Biden expressed his support to break the filibuster rule in order to codify Roe v. Wade into law after the Supreme Court reversed it on Friday.
Biden said “The most important thing to be clear about is 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.”
“And 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.
Bloomberg reports that when Biden was asked about how foreign leaders view the US political situation, he responded: “The one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States in overruling not only Roe v. Wade, but essentially challenging the right to privacy.”
“We’ve been a leader in the world in terms of personal rights and privacy rights and it is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did,” he added.
Biden referred to the Supreme Court overall as “destabilizing” for its many decisions, including Roe v. Wade. “Right to privacy, not just abortion rights, but yes, abortion rights” Biden said.
The Hill writes a filibuster requires 60 votes, and “There are not 50 senators who support changing the rules around the filibuster, however, making Biden’s suggestion unlikely to go anywhere.”
Bloomberg adds “Biden is under intensifying pressure from liberal Democrats to respond more aggressively to the Supreme Court’s decision last week overturning Roe and ending nationwide abortion rights. The Senate’s filibuster rules enable Republicans, who hold half the seats in the chamber, to block most legislation they oppose.”
Dems had their chance to codify roe in the past and they squandered it. Over the past 50 years, there have been opportunities to create and pass legislation that would have enshrined a woman’s bodily autonomy. And even though the radical right wing TOLD them that they would work to overturn roe, the dems somehow didn’t believe them or didn’t think it could be done. Idiots!
Now we will reap what this ultra-conservative court has sown. We will see higher rates of poverty, an increase in requests for food assistance, and a dramatic rise in crime in the next 15-20 years. Yes, all of the would-be aborted “babies” will live, but under what conditions? Raised by parents that did not want them, in households that cannot afford them? There simply aren’t enough people willing to adopt the unwanted children that will be born every year. In 2019, there were 600,000+ abortions in the US. Assuming half the states ban abortion, that means approximately 300,000 unwanted children born every year. And the conservative crowd is unwilling to provide social programs for them… so what will happen? You got what you wanted, now we will all suffer the consequences.