President Biden Calls on Congress to End Filibuster and Codify 'Roe v. Wade' Into Law

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty

President Joe Bidenbelieves the right to abortion should be codified into law.

“I’d be happy to go into detail with you on that,” he began, “I’m having a meeting with a group of governors when I get home on Friday and I’ll have announcements to make then.”

“The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codifyRoe v. Wadein the law,” he said firmly. “The way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that, and if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights – it should be (that) we provide an exception to this … requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

Filibuster rules are the longstanding Senate practice of requiring a 60-vote minimum to pass legislation. Currently, the Senate does not have the 60 votes needed to codifyRoe v. Wade,The New York Timesreports.

Also in his answer, Biden called the overturn an “outrageous” decision that “impacts not just on a woman’s right to choose, which is a critical piece, but on privacy generally.”

In the afternoon of the Supreme Court decision on June 24, Biden spoke in the White House against the overturn.

“Today the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away the constitutional right for the American people they had already recognized. They didn’t limit it, they simply took it away. That’s never been done to a right so important to so many Americans,” Biden said. “Now withRoegone, let’s be very clear: the health and life of women in this nation, are now at risk.”

“With this decision, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court show how extreme it is; how far removed they are from the majority of this country, that they’ve made the United States an outlier among developed nations of the world,” he added.

Biden also discussed the plan for his administration to use “all of its appropriate lawful powers to fight back” but imploring Congress to take action.

“Congress must act,” Biden said. “Let me be very clear and not ambiguous: the only way we can secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protection ofRoe v. Wadeas federal law. No executive action from the president can do that. And if Congress, as it appears, lacks the vote to do that now, voters need to make their voices heard.”

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He also promised that the administration will do everything in its power to protect women’s access to medications, contraception, and the right of women living in states that restrict abortion to travel to states that allow it.

“My administration will defend that bedrock right,” Biden said. “If any state or local official high or low tries to interfere with a woman’s exercising her basic right to travel, I will do everything in my power to fight that deeply un-American attack.”

Calling the Supreme Court’s ruling “a sad day for the court and the country,” Biden stressed that he believed “Roe v. Wadewas the correct decision.”

He went on to outline the importance of a balance of power, tracing back the Supreme Court’s decision to overturnRoe v. Wadeto former President Donald Trump.

AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

Roe v. Wadeis a landmark Supreme Court decision of 1973 that granted women the right to an abortion in every state.

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Protestors outside the Supreme Court.Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty

“Roe v. Wadeadvanced women’s equality,” Harris added at the time, in part. “The constitutional right of women to make decisions about their own bodies is not an abstract concept. It saves women’s lives.”

source: people.com