Sen. Kyrsten Sinema questions witnesses during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, May 14, 2019, in Washington, D.C/.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, FILE
Biden is under pressure to protect abortion access after the overturning of Roe.
ByAllison Pecorin and Alexandra Hutzler| ABC News
Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema remains committed to upholding the Senate filibuster, a spokesperson said Friday, a day after President Joe Biden said he would support making an exception to codify abortion rights in federal law.
“Senator Sinema’s position on the filibuster has not changed,” the spokesperson told ABC News.
While West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin hasn’t weighed in specifically after Biden’s call, all signs are that he, too, remains opposed to such a carveout. Without the support of both Democrats, a change to the Senate rules is likely not possible.
Biden is under pressure to act on reproductive rights after the Supreme Court last Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision legalizing abortion access nationwide for the past five decades.
Biden on Thursday called the high court’s behavior “outrageous,” stating he supported an exception to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to protect abortion rights.
“We have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law,” he said. “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, except the required exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”
Biden earlier this year voiced support for a filibuster carveout to pass voting rights legislation, but that too faced opposition from Manchin and Sinema.
