The leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion would reverse the decision to allow abortion, and President Joe Biden called on elected officials to protect women's right to abortion.
I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental, and that it has been the law of the land for almost fifty years.
Biden called for the election of more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to pass federal legislation that would ensure the right to abortion.
A day after a bombshell report about a draft of an opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on a case involving Mississippi's restrictive new abortion law, the Democratic president issued a statement.
According to the leaked draft, a majority of the Supreme Court voted to overturn the Wade ruling and affirm the right to abortion.
If the substance of the opinion becomes the final ruling by the court, individual states could either completely ban abortion or severely limit it.
We don't know if this draft is genuine or if it reflects the final decision of the court.
Biden noted that his administration argued in favor of the case.
The Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty is based on a long line of precedent.
After Texas passed a law that bars abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnant woman, Biden directed White House lawyers and his Gender Policy Council to prepare options for the administration.
When a ruling is issued, we will be ready.
He said that if the Supreme Court overturns the abortion law, it will fall on our nation's elected officials to protect a woman's right to choose.
The president said that it will fall on voters to choose pro-choice officials.
At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies abortion.
Biden did not say that he supports ending the Senate's 60-vote threshold in order to pass legislation to protect abortion rights with just 50 votes in Congress.
Democrats currently hold 48 Senate seats and have two independents who caucus with them, as well as a tie-breaking vote from the Vice President.
Since it became clear that a challenge to Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban would be decided, Biden has been under intense pressure to back a move to blow up the filibuster.
Even if Biden agreed to back a change to the filibuster rule so that the Senate could pass a bill codifying abortion protections into law with just a simple majority, it is not certain that he would get the 50 votes he would need to do so.
All 50 senators who caucus with the Democrats would need to back abortion protection and filibuster reform if the Senate splits evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
The Women's Health Protection Act, which was voted against by Joe Manchin, was seen as a trial balloon for how abortion protection bills would fare among Democrats.
A simple majority is needed to pass legislation in the House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a slim majority.
There was a lot of concern among Democrats about losing their majority in Congress this fall.
There is outrage among Democrats about the contents of the draft leaked by Alito, but there was hope that voters would be more motivated to support their party in the upcoming elections because of the possibility that the Supreme Court will overturn Wade.
A political party that holds the White House loses seats in congressional elections.
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