(The Guardian) Biden supports changing filibuster rules to codify Roe
Biden said he would support changing the Senate filibuster rules to codify abortion rights nationally.
“We have to codify Roe v Wade in the law and the wya to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that. And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, ... we should require an exception to the filibuster for this action,” he said.
The filibuster requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the evenly-divided Senate. All 50 Democrats and two Republicans say they would support, in theory, legislation codifying abortion, which leaves them 8 votes short of the 60-vote threshold. However, Democrats lack the necessary 50 votes to eliminate or change the filibuster rules.
Under pressure from pro-choice advocates for not doing enough, Biden said he would meet with a group of governors on Friday to discuss abortion rights. He told reporters he would announce long-promised actions by the federal government to protect abortion access at the event.
Given his evolution on abortion, Biden is asked if he is the party’s best messenger on the issue.
He let out a chuckle: “Yeah, I am.”
“I’m the president of the United States of America. That makes me the best messenger,” he said. “I’m the only president they got. And I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to everything in my power which I legally can do in terms of executive orders as well as push the Congress and the public.
The bottom line here is, if you care, if the polling data is correct, and you think this decision by the court was an outrage or a significant mistake: VOTE. Show up and vote. Vote in the off-year and vote vote vote. That’s how we’ll change it.”
Biden said he would support changing the Senate filibuster rules to codify abortion rights nationally.
“We have to codify Roe v Wade in the law and the wya to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that. And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, ... we should require an exception to the filibuster for this action,” he said.
The filibuster requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the evenly-divided Senate. All 50 Democrats and two Republicans say they would support, in theory, legislation codifying abortion, which leaves them 8 votes short of the 60-vote threshold. However, Democrats lack the necessary 50 votes to eliminate or change the filibuster rules.
Under pressure from pro-choice advocates for not doing enough, Biden said he would meet with a group of governors on Friday to discuss abortion rights. He told reporters he would announce long-promised actions by the federal government to protect abortion access at the event.
Given his evolution on abortion, Biden is asked if he is the party’s best messenger on the issue.
He let out a chuckle: “Yeah, I am.”
“I’m the president of the United States of America. That makes me the best messenger,” he said. “I’m the only president they got. And I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to everything in my power which I legally can do in terms of executive orders as well as push the Congress and the public.
The bottom line here is, if you care, if the polling data is correct, and you think this decision by the court was an outrage or a significant mistake: VOTE. Show up and vote. Vote in the off-year and vote vote vote. That’s how we’ll change it.”
