Sen. Bernie Sanders has responded to the publication of a draft majority opinion that the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn Roe v. Wade by demanding that Congress immediately pass legislation to codify the landmark 1973 decision making abortion a federally protected right "as the law of the land," The Hill reported on Tuesday.
The Vermont independent added in a tweet that "if there aren't 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes."
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sent off a message on Twitter of his own to slam Sanders, saying that the "translation" of Sanders' statement is that he wants to "change the rules of the Senate to pass a federal law legalizing the killing of unborn children right up to the day of delivery."
Since the Biden administration came into office, a number of Senate Democrats have pressed for a change in filibuster rules in order to get legislation passed in a 50-50 upper chamber, according to The Hill. But those efforts failed in January, when Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stated categorically that they would not vote to change filibuster rules.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was quick to back up Sanders, tweeting on Tuesday that "people elected Democrats precisely so we could lead in perilous moments like these — to codify Roe, hold corruption accountable, & have a president who uses his legal authority to break through Congressional gridlock on items from student debt to climate."
The New York congresswoman added that "it's high time we do it," If we don't, what message does that send? We can't sit around, finger point, & hand wring as people's futures + equality are on the line."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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