'Biden, in Madrid, Condemns 'Outrageous' Supreme Court; Urges 'Exception' to Filibuster to Codify Roe
(CNSNews.com) – Speaking in Madrid on Thursday, President Joe Biden condemned the “outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court” in overturning Roe v. Wade, and he said the Senate should make an “exception” to the filibuster if that’s what it takes to codify the right to abortion.
A reporter asked Biden, “What further specific executive actions are you considering in response to the Roe ruling, and would you declare a public health emergency as several Democrats are calling on you to do?”
Biden said he’s meeting with a group of governors when he returns home on Friday, “and I’ll have announcements to make then,” he said.
“But the first and foremost thing we should do is make it clear how outrageous this decision was and how much it impacts not just on a woman’s right to choose, which is a critical, critical piece, but on privacy generally — on privacy generally.
“And so I’m going to be talking to the governors as to what actions they think I should be taking as well, and — but the most important thing to be clear about is, we have to change — I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and 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 — we provide an exception for this — require an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”
Biden then called on NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, who told him, “You just made some news saying you would support changing the filibuster rules to codify abortion rights broadly across the country.”
Biden responded, “Right to privacy, not just abortion rights, but yes, abortion rights.”
O’Donnell asked Biden for his opinion on “the integrity and the impartiality of the Supreme Court — should Americans have confidence in the court as an institution? And your views on abortion have evolved in your public life. Are you the best messenger to carry this forward (as) Democrats, many of them, many progressives, want you to do?
“Yeah, I am,” Biden said:
“I’m the president of the United States of America. That makes me the best messenger. And I really think that it’s a serious, serious problem that the court has thrust upon the United States.
“Not just in terms of the right to choose, but in terms of the right to who you can marry, the right — a whole range of issues related to privacy. And I have written way back a number of lawyer articles about ninth amendment and the 14th amendment — why the privacy is considered as part of a constitutional guarantee.
“And they’ve just wiped it all out. And so I’m the only president they got, and I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to do everything in my power, which I legally can do, in terms of executive orders as well as push the Congress and the public.
“The bottom line here is, if you care, if the polling data is correct and you think this decision by the court was an outrage or a significant mistake, vote. Show up and vote. Vote in the off year, and vote, vote, vote. That’s how we’ll change it.”
Biden ended the news conference there, telling objecting reporters, “there’s no such thing as a quick one (question). I’m out of here.”
He was a little confused about which way to exit the stage.
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