CHICAGO (AP) — Sen. Tammy Baldwinfacing a tough reelection fight in one of the races that will determine control of Congress, has made protecting reproductive rights a cornerstone of her campaign, and she’s ready to back that up by promising to change the Senate filibuster rules if Democrats retain control of the elections. room.
The Wisconsin Democrat said taking this step is necessary to ensure that women in each state — not the government — can decide for themselves whether to have an abortion. As part of her campaign, she warns that Republicans could also target the filibuster to impose a national abortion ban if it prevails in November.
“Republicans have shown time and time again that they will stop at nothing in their pursuit of control over women’s bodies — and I believe them,” she said.
Democratic incumbents and challengers running for Senate this year say they want to restore the nation’s right to abortion, and many, like Baldwin, openly say they would support suspending the filibuster to do that. It has become a major talking point as they try to capitalize on the nationwide fight over abortion rights that has generally helped Democratic candidates since the Supreme Court struck down constitutional protections two years ago.
Republicans have criticized Democrats for wanting to change the rules, insisting they would not do so if they win the presidency and Senate.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, two prominent Republican abortion rights advocates, have introduced legislation intended to codify the protections established by Roe v. Wade. In a statement, Collins said she will “oppose any effort to weaken the legislative filibuster” by either party.
Senate rules require 60 votes to end debate on a bill, effectively making this the minimum number of votes needed to pass legislation, as a means of majority control. In an era of polarization and political gridlock, this number, as opposed to a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, has been a roadblock for the party in power to advance its agenda on issues like voting rights and immigration.
But whichever party controls the Senate can change the rules and make exceptions to the filibuster with just a simple majority vote. In the few times this step has been used, it has been referred to as the “nuclear option.”
Democrats, under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, did this for all judicial nominations except the Supreme Court in 2013, when Democrat Barack Obama was president and Republicans had repeatedly blocked Democratic nominees. GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Reid would regret that decision — and Republicans later changed the filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominees when they took back control.
That made Republican possible Donald Trump, while in the White House, to put three conservative justices on the court, including Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed about a week before the 2020 election. She helped form the court majority that overturned Roe v. Wade.
While neither party has gone so far as to change the rules for legislation, many Democrats in this year’s Senate races have enthusiastically supported it, especially to protect abortion rights.
“If NASA had the rules of the United States Senate, the rocket ship would never leave the launch pad,” Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said in an interview with NBC News this month. “So sometimes, at the right time — I think this is one of them — I would consider changing those rules to make sure women can get the health care they need.”
Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said “he has known for years” that the rules need to be changed and still supports that position. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has repeatedly called for eliminating the filibuster to protect abortion and voting rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who previously served one term in the House of Representatives and is the leading Democratic Senate candidate in Florida, said in an NBC News interview this month that she is “strongly in favor of pausing the filibuster and voting for women’s right to choose to codify Roe v. Wade.”
Her opponent, Republican Sen. Rick Scott, denounced Mucarsel-Powell’s support for pausing the filibuster. He did not comment on whether he would support pausing the filibuster to restrict abortion nationally, but has staunchly defended it in the past, calling it “an essential and necessary rule to protect the rights of minority parties.”
“Should it be ‘paused’ to pass the Green New Deal? How about stacking the Supreme Court or eliminating the Electoral College?” Scott said in a statement to The Associated Press referring to his opponent. “Should we get rid of it for good or should we only pause it when (Senate Leader) Chuck Schumer tells her to? Be honest with the people of Florida about where you draw the line when it comes to ‘pausing’ democracy, Congresswoman.”
It’s not just Democratic lawmakers and candidates. In 2022, President Joe Biden said he supported breaking away from the filibuster to codify abortion rights, an idea thwarted by two moderates who decided not to run for reelection this year, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a Democrat who became an independent.
Political experts say there may be heavy pressure from anti-abortion groups to end the Senate filibuster if the Republican Party gains full control in Washington, but national organizations have de-emphasized the issue, at least publicly.
When asked in an interview with Time Magazine last month whether he would veto a bill that would impose a federal ban, Trump did not answer directly. Instead, he said “that chance will never exist” because even if Republicans take back the Senate in November, Republicans would not have the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and bring the bill to a vote .
Kristi Hamrick, spokesperson for Students for Life, said maneuvering around the filibuster is not a “realistic scenario” because the group has not seen a coordinated effort to do so. Instead, she said that if Trump is elected, the group would push him to take administrative action to restrict abortion, including banning the shipping and online sale of abortion pills.
Carol Tobias, chair of the National Right to Life Committee, said the organization has never taken a position on the issue and instead accused Biden of “planning to bypass the filibuster.”
Democrats and abortion rights groups say they are skeptical. Republicans would not seek to eliminate the filibuster rule for a federal ban.
Mini Timmaraju, president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, said the Republican Party and anti-abortion forces “are ready to use every tool in their toolbox to ban abortion nationwide, and that includes bypassing the filibuster.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., also warned of a national ban if Republicans win the presidency and Congress.
“We can’t trust anything Donald Trump says when it comes to abortion,” Whitmer said recently. “So no one should take any comfort in the fact that he does want an abortion ban, but he doesn’t get it because he thinks we won’t have 60 votes in the Senate. Nonsense.”
Trump has expressed conflicting views on the rule depending on whether his party controlled the Senate. In 2017, his first year in office, he called for an end to the filibuster to advance his agenda, which included repealing the health care law enacted under Obama and building a border wall. But in 2021, a year after he lost his reelection bid and Democrats controlled Congress, he said removing the filibuster would be “catastrophic for the Republican Party.”
Several senior members of the Republican Senate — including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming — have said they are firmly against eliminating the filibuster. Thune and Cornyn want to replace McConnell if he steps down from leadership after the November elections.
Sen. Jim Lankford, R-Okla., said in the past week that GOP senators have discussed the issue in private meetings, and that he and others have said they want promises from those running for leader that they won’t break the rules will change.
“It’s a uniquely American thing to be able to have a place in government where both parties should be a part of it,” Lankford said.
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
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