Abortion rights demonstrators chant outside the US Supreme Court in Washington DC on Saturday June 25,2022.Credit:Bloomberg
“America is better positioned to lead the world than we ever have been,” he said. “But one thing that has been destabilising is the outrageous behaviour of the Supreme Court of the US in overruling not onlyRoe v Wade,but essentially challenging the right to privacy.”
After days of pressure within his own ranks,Biden said he would support temporarily changing the Senate filibuster rule to make it easier to codify national abortion protections. At present,the rule requires at least 60 votes to pass legislation,but the Democrats only have 50 votes,as do Republicans.
While it is highly unlikely the Democrats would be able to tweak the filibuster without the backing of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema,two key Democrats who have traditionally resisted changing the system,Biden’s shift is nonetheless significant,as he has spent much of his career not wanting to alter the rules and has previously described doing so as “arrogance of power”.
Joe Biden chats to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a family photo at the NATO summit in Madrid.Credit:Getty
In this case,however,the president said he was willing to make an exception,not just for abortion rights but also “the right to privacy” amid concerns that this was also under threat.
“I believe we have to codifyRoe v Wade in the law,” he said. “And the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that. And if the filibuster gets in the way… we provide an exception to this.”
Biden’s comments - one week after the Supreme Court made its extraordinary ruling - come at a critical juncture for the court,with liberal justice Stephen Breyer officially retiring on Thursday to make way for former public defender and federal appeals court judge Kentanji Brown Jackson,51.