But as with many other Democratic priorities, from voting rights to LGBTQ equality, the best hope for passing a bill codifying the right to an abortion would be eliminating the filibuster and allowing legislation to pass with a simple majority. But this is also an unlikely scenario, given the public opposition by Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema to ending the practice, as well as private concerns by several other Democratic senators. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised in a tweet on Tuesday that Democrats will fight against [the Texas law] and for Roe v. Wade but declined to offer specifics about how that battle would be waged.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin announced on Friday that the committee would hold a hearing to examine not just the constitutional impact of allowing the Texas law to take effect, but also the conservative Courts abuse of the shadow docketbut holding a hearing does not amount to taking legislative action.
Progressives in Congress and outside advocacy groups have put pressure on moderate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster. Jayapal, DeGette, and Lee said in their statement that they urge the Senate to do whatever is necessary to send it to the Presidents desk. Chu wrote on Twitter that step one to protecting the right to an abortion is ending the filibuster. The Progressive Caucus said in a tweet that its the filibuster or reproductive freedom.
The fact is Dems CAN act now to protect our democracy, voting rights, integrity of our courts, and end minority rule. The Dem Senators in the way need to get on board. The stakes are too high. We must end the filibuster, expand the court, stop dark money & protect voting rights, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Tuesday.
Read more:
The Filibuster Is Blocking Roe v. Wade From Becoming the Law of the Land - The New Republic
