Biden Calls for ‘Exception to the Filibuster’ to Pass Federal Abortion Law

Long hesitant to support circumventing the US Senate’s filibuster rule, US President Joe Biden called for an “exception” to be made in order to pass federal pro-abortion legislation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, which has allowed it to become illegal in large parts of the country.

Biden seemed to cave to heavy political pressure on Thursday, demanding Senate Democrats use whatever means at their disposal to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).

“I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade into law,” Biden told reporters in Madrid on Thursday, where he is attending a NATO summit. “And the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that. 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 for the filibuster for this action.”

We have to codify Roe vs. Wade into law.

If the filibuster gets in the way, we should provide an exception to the filibuster to deal with the Supreme Court decision.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 30, 2022

“We have to codify Roe vs. Wade into law,” Biden also wrote on Twitter. “If the filibuster gets in the way, we should provide an exception to the filibuster to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

The WHPA would codify the language of Roe vs. Wade into the US federal law code. That 1973 ruling, which legalized abortion in the US and created a framework for its legal regulation, was overturned by the high court earlier this month in a ruling that provoked nationwide demonstrations and international condemnation.

The bill passed the Democrat-controlled House last September when the first signs arose that Roe might be imperiled by the high court’s new conservative majority, but it failed to get through the evenly-split Senate after several Democrats voted against it in May.

The filibuster rule allows a minority of senators to block the progress of a bill by speaking nonstop and refusing to yield the floor, requiring 60 votes in the 100-person body to end the filibuster. The rule is not part of the US Constitution and was adopted separately by the upper congressional chamber, meaning lawmakers could also remove it themselves if they so desire.

After Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, Republicans threatened to filibuster almost every bill in his progressive agenda, including infrastructure and climate change spending bills to the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination against LGBTQ people nationwide, and the WHPA. Faced with GOP obstinacy, Biden has for more than a year resisted calls in his own party for the filibuster rule to be ended. His Thursday demand for it to be circumvented is the first time he has publicly backed such a move.