The political landscape is heating up as the 2024 Presidential election draws nearer. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has ignited a firestorm of controversy with her stance on eliminating the Senate filibuster to codify Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Independent who left the Democratic Party in 2022, and Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat known for his support of the filibuster, have both vehemently condemned Harris’s position.
Sinema, a vocal critic of the filibuster’s abolishment, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her concerns. “To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide,” she wrote. “What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea,” she added.
Echoing Sinema’s sentiments, Manchin labeled the filibuster as the “Holy Grail of democracy.” “Shame on her,” Manchin stated at the Capitol, according to CNN. “She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It’s the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids.”
Harris’s controversial statement came during an interview on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), where she outlined her vision for securing a Democratic Senate majority to push for abortion rights. “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” she said. “And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.”
In the same interview, Harris expressed confidence in retaining a Democratic Senate majority and regaining control of the House. “I would also emphasize that while the presidential election is extremely important and dispositive of where we go moving forward, it also is about what we need to do to hold onto the Senate and win seats in the House,” she said.
Harris has consistently emphasized the importance of codifying Roe v Wade into law, highlighting the need to overcome the filibuster if necessary. In September 2022, she stated, “With just two more seats in the Senate, we can codify Roe v. Wade, we can put the protection of Roe into law.”
The debate over the filibuster is a contentious one, with Democrats arguing that its elimination is necessary to advance their agenda, while Republicans often defend it as a crucial protection for minority rights. As the election approaches, this issue is sure to remain at the forefront of political discussions.
