October 7, 2020

Biden Again Promises He would Make Roe v. Wade the Law of the Land

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr
At an outdoor town hall event that aired on NBC Monday, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said that he would pass legislation making legal abortion the law of the land if Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.

At the event, Biden asked what he would do to protect "reproductive health rights" if Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Biden gave the following response:

“Number one, we don’t know exactly what [Barrett] will do, although the expectation is that she may very well move to overrule Roe, and what the only thing--the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe the law of the land,” said Biden. “That’s what I would do.” 

If Roe v. Wade is overturned by a court with Amy Coney Barrett, it would not be immediately outlawed, nor would it be easy to reinstate the policy as a federal law. The ability to grant the right to abortion would be left to individual states. Furthermore, federal bills designed to codify a right to abortion would be unlikely to gain the majority required to overcome a filibuster.

Click here to read more.