The answer is still no, Joe.
Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona remain opposed to nuking the Senate filibuster, even as President Joe Biden is demanding that Democrats pass a law making abortions legal nationwide.
Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the constitutional right to abortion — Biden on Thursday demanded that the Senate create an exception to its 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass abortion legislation.
“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,” Biden said during a news conference in Spain. “And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, we require an exception to the filibuster for this action.”
“It is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did,” the president said. “I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to do everything in my power, which I legally can do in terms of executive orders, as well as push the Congress and the public.”
The end of Roe was a significant victory for the pro-life movement in America. Republican-led states with abortion restrictions on the books acted swiftly to put those laws into effect, while other states with Democratic majorities announced new proposals to create “safe havens” for abortions.
The White House announced several executive actions on abortion last week that aim to protect the right of women to travel to another state for the procedure, as well as guarantee access to abortion-inducing drugs. Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress have also renewed calls to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act — extreme legislation that would not just codify abortion rights but would invalidate hundreds of health and safety regulations on abortion clinics, as well as unconstitutionally micromanage state policy from the federal level.
Previous attempts to pass the WHPA have not earned enough support in the Senate to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold — hence Biden’s demand that the Senate create an exception for it this time.
But Manchin and Sinema remain opposed to any attempt to change or circumvent the filibuster, according to the Daily Mail.
“Manchin’s office told DailyMail.com that the West Virginia Democrat’s position had not changed in light of the president’s new comments, and Sinema’s office referred DailyMail.com to a statement the Arizona Democrat made after the leaked Supreme Court decision,” the outlet reported.
Sinema’s statement said: “Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women’s access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever.”
Their joint opposition to nuking the filibuster leaves Democrats with just one option: Win more Senate races in the midterm elections this November.