President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would back a filibuster carve-out in order to codify Roe v. Wade.
During a press conference, Biden was asked what “specific actions” he’s considering following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that deemed abortion was protected under the U.S. Constitution.
“The first and foremost thing we should do is make it clear how outrageous this decision was and how much it impacts not just on a women’s right to choose, which is a critical, critical piece, but on privacy generally,” Biden said during a press conference in Spain, where he’s wrapping up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. “But the most important thing, to be clear about it, I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law and the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that.”
“And if the filibuster gets in the way, like voting rights, we provide an exception for this, we require an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision,” the president added. (RELATED: Biden Decries Supreme Court’s Decision Overturning Roe V. Wade, Calls For Voters To Turn Out For The Midterms)
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Biden, when asked for clarification on his remarks, added that he’d back a filibuster exception in an effort to protect privacy rights.
“I really think that it’s a serious, serious, problem that the Court has thrust upon the United States, not just in terms of the right to choose but in terms of the right to who you can marry, a whole range of issues related to privacy,” Biden said. “And I had written way back a number of larger articles about the 9th Amendment and the 14th Amendment and why privacy is considered, as part of a constitutional guarantee, and they’ve just wiped it all out.”
The filibuster allows senators to block votes on most pieces of legislation unless 60 members vote in favor of ending debate. With a temporary change to the filibuster, abortion legislation could be passed through the Senate with 51 votes.
Although Biden signaled support for temporarily changing the filibuster to pass abortion legislation in the wake of Roe v. Wade, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have remained firmly opposed to making any such exceptions.