As usual, when the Democrats don’t get their way, they throw their toys out the window. And if all fails, change the rules! That certainly seems to be their M.O. these days, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to do exactly that in order to pass a federal law in Congress that would protect abortion rights. But he won’t succeed and here’s why…
“Now that the Court is poised to strike down Roe, it is my intention for the Senate to hold a vote on legislation to codify the right to an abortion in law,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday, 12 hours after Politico shocked America with the leaked draft opinion.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said “Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW… And 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.”
And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The only chance the Democrats have of passing a federal law in Congress to protect abortion rights is to end the filibuster, which we all know is never going to happen all thanks to Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona, both Democrats, who opposed changing the filibuster already earlier this year.
As Sanders notes, in order to pass such a law, Democrats will first need to get 50 senators to agree to change the Senate’s filibuster rule. Only then can they pass an abortion rights protection law with a simple majority. Without Manchin and Sinema on board, it will never happen.
A self-described pro-life Democrat, Manchin was the only member of his party in the Senate to vote against advancing the Women’s Health Protection Act earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Manchin refused to answer questions about whether he would now support either changing the filibuster or codifying abortion rights into law.
And without Manchin on board to pass the final abortion protection legislation, going to great lengths to suspend the filibuster begins to look pointless. And let’s be honest, Chuck Schumer knows this, but he needs to put up a front and act like there’s a chance just to appease his voters and lead them to believe he’s doing something – even though that “something” is near damn impossible.
