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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema stands by her support of the Senate filibuster, dooming Democratic plans to codify federal abortion protections

Business Insider 5/3/2022 gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Feb. 1, 2022 in Washington. Al Drago/Bloomberg via AP, File

© Al Drago/Bloomberg via AP, File Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Feb. 1, 2022 in Washington. Al Drago/Bloomberg via AP, File

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema won't change the Senate filibuster rules to codify Roe v. Wade into law.
"Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women's access to health care," she said, "are more important now than ever."
A bill codifying the protections of Roe into federal law failed to advance in the Senate in February.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is standing by her support for the Senate's current filibuster rules that require most legislation to get 60 votes to advance to debate, dooming any hopes of Democrats passing federal abortion protections with the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Senate filibuster, in its current state, requires most legislation to get a three-fifths majority of 60 votes to end debate and advance to final passage, precluding Democrats from passing many of their big policy priorities in a Senate divided between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.

"A woman's health care choices should be between her, her family, and her doctor," Sinema said in a Tuesday statement. "Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women's access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever."

—Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) May 3, 2022

Democrats are calling for Congress to codify abortion rights after Politico published a draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, in which the court's majority would uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and, crucially, overturn the federal protections for first-trimester abortion restrictions enshrined in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

Democrats and Republicans will battle over Senate seats in nine key states in November. The outcomes will determine who controls the Senate next year. Polling shows Republican congressional candidates have an edge against Democrats. There will be 34 US Senate elections this year, but control of the US Senate will hinge on just nine contests.Both Democrats and Republicans have their eyes on the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. All are considered competitive by the Cook Political Report, which tracks congressional and presidential races, as well as operatives and pollsters from both parties.Democrats are playing defense in four of those states, while Republicans are seeking to keep five more. At stake for both parties is control of the US Senate, and whoever holds power come January 2023 will determine what, if anything, President Joe Biden can accomplish in the final two years of his first term.Democrats barely hold the Senate. The chamber is divided 50-50 between the two parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaker (the chamber's two independents, Vermont's Bernie Sanders and Maine's Angus King, caucus with Democrats). Republicans are eager to capitalize on voters' concerns about inflation and frustration with the lingering pandemic in order to oust at least one incumbent Democrat.Political winds may be on their side. Recent polling shows voters are frustrated with Democrats, mostly due to economic concerns. And an ABC News poll from February found that Republican congressional candidates have a seven-point edge over Democratic ones among registered voters. The gap is even starker among voters who are registered and also certain to vote, with Republican candidates leading Democratic ones 54-41%.While home-state factors will weigh in on each of those senate races, national forces, such as Trump's continued sway over Republican voters, economic anxiety, and frustration over the coronavirus pandemic will also likely play a role in deciding the balance of power in Washington.Read the original article on Business Insider

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the document's authenticity on Tuesday and said he had ordered an investigation into how the opinion was leaked to the press.

Video: Senate filibuster remains intact after Manchin, Sinema vote with Republicans (FOX News)

Senate filibuster remains intact after Manchin, Sinema vote with Republicans

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Overturning Roe wouldn't make abortion illegal nationwide, but would leave abortion policy up to each state. In September, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the Women's Health Protection Act, which would codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.

But Democrats face a math problem in the Senate, where they don't have 50 votes in support of the bill itself — much less to eliminate the filibuster. The bill failed to advance to debate by a vote of 46-48, with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who holds more conservative views on abortion than most of his caucus, voting against moving the bill forward.

Sinema's long-held opposition to changing the filibuster rules has earned her the ire of progressive groups, including prominent pro-choice political organizations. After Sinema and Manchin voted against a one-time change to the filibuster rules to pass voting rights legislation in January, EMILY's List and NARAL Pro-Choice America announced they would no longer support her for office.

Sinema has long argued that the higher threshold to debate legislation forces senators to work across the aisle, and stabilizes federal laws from drastic swings in policy as Congress changes hands.

"In four years or any time when the other party gains control, without the filibuster in place, all those voting rights protections could be wiped out with a simple majority vote," Sinema said during an August 2021 interview on "The View."

"There's no need for me to restate my long-standing support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation," Sinema said in a January speech on the Senate floor. "There's no need for me to restate its role in protecting our country from wild reversals from federal policy. It's a view I've held during my years in both the House and the US Senate, and it's the view I continue to hold."

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