Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar admitted Sunday that she believes the filibuster should be abolished in order to bar Texas’ pro-life legislation and grant abortion access.
The Minnesota senator joined CNN’s Dana Bash revealing that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to codify Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Court decision that legalized first-trimester abortions on a national level, into law. Bash pointed out that there are not 60 votes in the Senate for Congress to successfully codify the court decision, but Klobuchar expressed hope of getting it passed.
“Well, first of all, I’m glad Speaker Pelosi is showing that leadership to get this through the House immediately. Basically codify, or put Roe v. Wade into law. In the U.S. Senate, first of all, there are pro-choice Republicans. I want to make that clear. We’ve seen that time and time again in votes,” the senator said.
“But enough to get to 60?” Bash asked.
“No, Senator [Susan] Collins and Senator [Lisa] Murkowski. My solution to this, which is my solution for voting rights and so many other things, including climate change, where one side of the country is in flames, the other side of the country is flooded with people dying submerged in their cars. I believe we should abolish the filibuster. I do not believe that our rule should be used to allow us to put our heads in the sand and not take action on the important issues that are facing our country right now and over the next year.”
“We will just get nowhere if the filibuster is in place,” Klobuchar said.
The Supreme Court declined to bar Texas’ pro-life legislation (S.B. 8) that intends to criminalize abortions at six weeks of gestation, when a baby’s heartbeat can be detected, and allows for lawsuits to be brought against abortion providers that perform abortions after that point. The state passed the bill early Wednesday, receiving major backlash from several prominent opponents. (RELATED: ‘Texas Taliban’: Abortion Law Is As Bad As Literal Terrorists, According To Liberal Activists)
Over half of Republicans, 62%, believe abortion should be illegal, with 45% answering that abortion should be illegal in most cases and 17% saying in all cases, according to Pew Research. In contrast, 40% of Democrats believe abortion should be legal in all cases while 42% answered in most cases.
When asked if the Supreme Court is headed towards overturning Roe v. Wade, Klobuchar hinted that it is a possibility.
“But if you follow those tracks as I mentioned Justice [Amy] Coney Barrett’s hearing, you know where it leads. And this decision that they made in the state of Texas is unbelievable. And Justice Roberts, not exactly a liberal, a conservative justice who sided with the liberal justices in this case in his dissent that the Texas law was unusual, it was unprecedented. That they’re basically taking their own authority and giving it to the populous in the form of ‘hey, you can be a bounty hunter, $10,000 you can report a woman who’s trying to go and seek to exercise her constitutional right.”
President Joe Biden vowed in a January statement to codify Roe v. Wade and expressed his commitment to appoint Supreme Court justices that will uphold the 48-year-old decision.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing justices that respect foundational precedents like Roe. We are also committed to ensuring that we work to eliminate maternal and infant health disparities, increase access to contraception and support families economically so that all parents can raise their families in dignity,” Biden said.