Biden Announces Support for Ending the Filibuster to Pass Pro-Abortion Legislation

Biden Announces Support for Ending the Filibuster to Pass Pro-Abortion Legislation
U.S. President Joe Biden meets NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the NATO summit at the IFEMA arena in Madrid, Spain, on June 29, 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Jack Phillips
6/30/2022
Updated:
6/30/2022
0:00

President Joe Biden announced on June 30 that he would support ending the 60-vote Senate filibuster to pass bills to allow abortions at the federal level.

During his campaign, Biden said he wanted to keep the filibuster. When he entered office, he affirmed his support for the Senate rule.

Biden was asked during the NATO summit in Spain on June 30 about keeping the rule amid the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said that the only way to respond is by Congress passing a law.

"The foremost thing we should do is make it clear how outrageous this decision was," Biden said. "I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure that 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," said Biden, who had threatened to use the filibuster on several occasions for bills when he was a senator.

In January, Biden said he would support ending the filibuster to pass what Democrats have described as a voting rights bill. Democrats currently have a razor-thin, 50–50 majority in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as tiebreaker.

After the Supreme Court decision on June 24, Biden called on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade and on Americans to turn up en masse at the polls to vote in favor of Democrats who favor allowing abortions.

The Supreme Court, in a 6–3 ruling, overturned the 1973 Roe decision, which argued that women have a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito on June 24 said that it is only legislatures—not courts—that have the power to dictate laws around abortions and noted that the Constitution doesn't make mention of the procedure.

The filibuster, which was first used in 1837 and was established in the Senate to protect the interests of the minority party, takes advantage of a rule that 60 votes are needed to stop debate on a bill. Debate on a bill can last indefinitely.

In the current Congress, it appears unlikely that the filibuster will be removed. Several Democratic senators, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), have signaled they don't want the rule to be scrapped, and no Republicans have said they would vote to end it. Manchin, however, has said he favors codifying Roe v. Wade but hasn't signaled whether he wants to abolish the filibuster to do so.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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