Harris calls for end to Senate filibuster to pass ‘abortion rights’ legislation

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference on Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 24, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris this week called for an end to the Senate procedure known as the filibuster, saying the change should be made in order to pass federal legislation protecting access to abortion. 

In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) that aired Tuesday, Harris said eliminating the filibuster rule — which sets a 60-vote threshold in the Senate to advance legislation — would allow for the passage of “protections for reproductive freedom” with votes by a simple majority of 51 senators. 

The 60-vote filibuster rule means that Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the Senate, cannot pass legislation without some Republican support. In order to end the filibuster rule, a procedure known as invoking cloture, a two-thirds majority would have to agree on the rule change, the Senate website notes. 

Harris’ idea is not a new one — in 2022, as vice president, Harris said she looked forward to casting a deciding vote to “break the filibuster.” And as a candidate for president in 2019 when she was a U.S. senator, she also said she would support ending the filibuster to pass environmental legislation known as the Green New Deal, WPR reported. 

President Joe Biden, whom Harris replaced as the Democratic nominee for 2024, has called for an “exception” to the filibuster in order to expand abortion. Before Biden took office as president, observers warned he and Harris might move to end the filibuster, in line with proposals already put forth by some Democrats. 

Critics have warned, however, that eliminating the filibuster would cause additional political polarization by giving the majority party in the Senate the power to pass whatever legislation they want while flipping that same power to the other party if they gain a majority.  

Harris has made pro-abortion advocacy a major focus of her campaign, pledging in several speeches to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. 

“When I am president of the United States and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law,” she said in a July speech. 

During her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour” in which she slammed states with pro-life laws as “immoral,” Harris repeatedly asserted that “one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply-held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do,” a statement that has garnered criticism from pro-life advocates.