Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley responded Wednesday to a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that suggested the justices will overturn Roe v. Wade, saying Congress should expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court, end the filibuster and pass a federal law ensuring abortion access.
“This is one more demonstration by the far-right extremism of the Supreme Court to obstruct the will of the people,” Pressley said, making reference to the high court’s recent rulings on voting rights.
“In my opinion, the next steps are that the Senate needs to step up and codify Roe v. Wade and we need to abolish the filibuster,” Pressley said.
Rep. Pressley is a lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a federal abortion access bill that has been reintroduced in Congress for several years. The bill passed the House last September, but later failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome the Senate filibuster, a procedural obstruction tactic meant to prolong debate or prevent a vote on a bill.
Pressley added she had been encouraged by indications from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that there will be some effort on the Senate’s part to attempt to codify Roe v. Wade.
Pressley also renewed a call for Congress to add more justices in an effort to bring political equilibrium to the Supreme Court.
“I’m excited that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will soon officially take the bench and I’m certainly supportive of legislative efforts … to expand the courts,” Pressley said. “I think in doing that, that might get us to more of the fairness and the balance that is necessary."
Currently, the court is comprised of six justices appointed by conservative presidents, including three selected by former President Donald Trump, who explicitly vowed during the 2016 campaign season to seat pro-life judges if elected.
Pressley's comments came two days after protests swept the nation in response to news the high court appears poised to throw out the legal precedent set in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. The court interpreted then that a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion is part of the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Pressley addressed these issues as she appeared alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at Bunker Hill Community College to present a ceremonial check for the $1 million in federal community project funding for the city’s Tuition-Free Community College program.
At the event, she also brought up student debt and called on President Joe Biden to tackle the issue.
“I'm proud to say that our movement to cancel student debt has never been stronger, and I look forward to continuing to make the case to President Biden to use his executive authority to get this done,” she said.
On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden pledged to set up a new program to offer $10,000 in student debt relief to public servants.
Pressley and other progressive lawmakers have continually advocated for the president to eliminate $50,000 in student loan debt via executive order.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed to reporters the president is weighing the elimination of some student debt based on income.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
