芝加哥-参议员塔米·鲍德温(Tammy Baldwin)在一场将决定国会控制权的竞选中面临艰难的连任斗争，她将保护生育权作为其竞选的基石，如果民主党继续控制参议院，她愿意承诺改变参议院的阻挠议事规则。
这位威斯康星州民主党人表示，采取这一步骤是必要的，以确保每个州的妇女——而不是政府——可以自己决定是否堕胎。作为她的竞选活动的一部分，她警告说，如果共和党人在11月获胜，他们可能还会以阻挠议事为目标，实施全国堕胎禁令。
她说:“共和党人一次又一次地表明，他们会不择手段地追求控制女性的身体——我相信他们。”
今年竞选参议员的民主党现任和挑战者表示，他们希望恢复堕胎的国家权利，许多人，如鲍德温，公开表示他们将支持暂停阻挠议事来这样做。自从两年前最高法院推翻宪法保护以来，围绕堕胎权利的全国性斗争一直在帮助民主党候选人，这已经成为他们试图利用这场斗争的一个关键话题。
共和党人批评民主党人想要改变规则，并强调如果他们赢得总统和参议院席位，他们不会这样做。
缅因州参议员苏珊·科林斯和阿拉斯加州参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基是堕胎权的两名知名共和党支持者，他们提出了旨在将罗诉韦德案中确立的保护措施编纂成文的立法。柯林斯在一份声明中表示，她“将反对任何一方削弱立法阻挠手段的努力”。
参议院的规定要求60票才能结束对法案的辩论，这实际上使其成为通过立法所需的最低票数，以此作为对多数票的制约。在一个两极分化和政治僵局的时代，与参议院100名成员中的简单多数相比，这一数字一直是执政党在投票权和移民等问题上推进其议程的拦路虎。
但是，无论哪个政党控制参议院，都可以改变规则，只需简单的多数票就可以为阻挠议事开辟例外。这一步骤在少数几次使用中被称为“核选择”。
在当时的内华达州多数党领袖哈里·里德(Harry Reid)的领导下，民主党人在2013年除最高法院外的所有司法提名中都是这样做的，当时民主党人巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)担任总统，共和党人多次阻止民主党提名人。肯塔基州共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示，里德会后悔这个决定——共和党人后来在夺回控制权后改变了最高法院提名人的阻挠议事规则。
这使得共和党人唐纳德·特朗普在白宫期间可以让三名保守派法官进入法院，其中包括艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官，他在2020年大选前一周获得确认选举。她帮助形成了推翻罗伊诉韦德案的法院多数派。
尽管两党都没有改变立法规则，但今年参议院竞选中的许多民主党人都热情支持这样做，尤其是为了保护堕胎权利。
“如果美国国家航空航天局有美国参议院的规则，火箭船永远不会离开发射台，”亚利桑那州参议员马克·凯利本月在接受NBC新闻采访时说。“所以有时候，在适当的时候——我认为这是其中之一——我会考虑改变这些规则，以确保女性能够获得所需的医疗保健。”
宾夕法尼亚州参议员鲍勃·凯西说，“他多年来一直公开表示”规则应该改变，并仍然支持这一立场。自罗诉韦德案被推翻以来，明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔一再呼吁消除阻挠议事行为以保护堕胎和投票权。
黛比·穆卡塞尔-鲍威尔(Debbie Mucarsel-Powell)曾在众议院任职一届，是佛罗里达州民主党参议员的主要候选人。她本月在接受美国全国广播公司(NBC News)采访时表示，她“非常赞成暂停阻挠议事，投票支持女性选择将罗伊诉韦德案编纂成法律的权利。”
她的对手、共和党参议员里克·斯科特(Rick Scott)指责穆卡塞尔-鲍威尔支持暂停阻挠议事。他没有评论他是否会支持暂停在全国范围内限制堕胎的阻挠议事行为，但过去一直坚定地为其辩护，称其为“保护少数党权利的重要而必要的规则”。
“是否应该‘暂停’通过绿色新政?堆叠最高法院或取消选举人团怎么样?”斯科特在给美联社的一份声明中提到了他的对手。“我们应该永久废除它，还是只在(参议院多数党领袖)查克·舒默要求时暂停它?国会女议员，请向佛罗里达州人民坦白你对‘暂停’民主的底线。”
不仅仅是民主党议员和候选人。2022年，乔·拜登总统表示，他支持将阻挠议事的做法排除在堕胎权法律之外，这一想法遭到了两位决定今年不竞选连任的温和派参议员乔·曼钦(D-W.Va .)和亚利桑那州民主党人凯尔斯滕·西内马(Kyrsten Sinema)的阻挠。
政治专家表示，如果共和党在华盛顿获得完全控制权，反堕胎组织可能会施加巨大压力，要求取消参议院的阻挠议事行为，但全国性组织已经淡化了这一问题，至少是在公开场合。
上个月在《时代》杂志采访中被问及是否会否决一项实施联邦禁令的法案时，特朗普没有直接回答。相反，他表示“永远不会有这种机会”，因为共和党人即使在11月夺回参议院，也不会拥有克服阻挠议事所需的60票，从而将该法案付诸表决。
学生生命组织的发言人克里斯蒂·哈姆里克说，绕过阻挠议事并不是一个“现实的方案”，因为该组织还没有看到为此进行的协调努力。相反，她表示，如果特朗普当选，该组织将推动他考虑采取行政措施限制堕胎，包括禁止邮寄和在线销售堕胎药丸。
全国生命权委员会主席卡罗尔·托拜厄斯表示，该组织从未在这个问题上采取立场，而是指责拜登“有意规避阻挠议事”。
民主党人和堕胎权利组织表示，他们怀疑共和党人不会试图取消联邦禁令的阻挠议事规则。
全国堕胎权利组织“人人享有生殖自由”主席米尼·蒂马拉朱表示，共和党和反堕胎力量“准备使用工具箱中的一切工具在全国范围内禁止堕胎，其中包括规避阻挠议事。”
密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默也警告说，如果共和党赢得总统和国会，将实施全国性禁令。
惠特默最近表示:“我们不能相信唐纳德·特朗普在堕胎问题上说的任何话。”“所以没人应该对这样的事实感到安慰:是的，他想要堕胎禁令，但他不会得到它，因为他认为我们在参议院不会有60票。胡扯。”
特朗普对该规则表达了相互矛盾的观点，这取决于他的政党是否控制了参议院。2017年，即他担任总统的第一年，他呼吁结束阻挠议事以推进他的议程，包括废除奥巴马时期颁布的医疗保健法和修建边境墙。但在他竞选连任失败一年后的2021年，民主党控制了国会，他表示，取消阻挠议事将“对共和党来说是灾难性的”。
参议院共和党的几位高级成员——包括南达科他州的约翰·图恩、得克萨斯州的约翰·科宁和怀俄明州的约翰·巴拉索——表示他们坚决反对取消阻挠议事。图恩和科宁将在麦康奈尔11月大选后卸任时接替他。
俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员吉姆·兰克福德上周表示，共和党参议员在私下会议上讨论了这个问题，他和其他人表示，他们希望竞选领导人的人承诺他们不会改变规则。
兰克福德说:“能够在双方都必须参与的政府中占有一席之地是美国独有的事情。”
Democrats campaigning to suspend filibuster rule to pass abortion protections
CHICAGO --Sen. Tammy Baldwin, facing 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 willing to back that up by pledging to change the Senate filibuster rules if Democrats retain control of the chamber.
The Wisconsin Democrat said taking that step is necessary to ensure that women in every state -– not the government -– can decide for themselves whether to have an abortion. As part of her campaign, she warns that Republicans might also target the filibuster to impose a national abortion ban if they prevail in November.
“Republicans have shown time and again that they will stop at nothing in their pursuit of controlling women’s bodies – and I believe them,” she said.
Democratic incumbents and challengers running for the Senate this year say they want to restore a national right to abortion, and many, like Baldwin, openly say they would support suspending the filibuster to do so. It’s become a key talking point as they try to capitalize on the nationwide battle over abortion rights that has generally helped Democratic candidates since the Supreme Court overturned constitutional protections two years ago.
Republicans have criticized Democrats for wanting to change the rules and are emphatic 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 supporters of abortion rights, have introduced legislation meant to codify the protections that had been 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 over a bill, effectively making it the minimum number of votes needed to pass legislation, as a means to provide a check on the majority. 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 promote its agenda on issues such as voting rights and immigration.
But whichever party has control of the Senate can change the rules and carve out exceptions to the filibuster with only a simple majority vote. That step has been referred to as the “nuclear option” in the few times it has been employed.
Democrats, under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, did this for all judicial nominations but 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 allowed Republican Donald Trump, while in the White House, to put three conservative justices on the court, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed about a week before the 2020election. 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 Senate races this year have enthusiastically supported doing so, especially to protect abortion rights.
“If NASA had the rules of the United States Senate, the rocket ship would never leave the launchpad,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly said in an interview this month with NBC News. “So at times, at the appropriate time — I think this is one of them -– I would consider changing those rules to make sure that women can get the health care they need.”
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey said “he has been on the record for years” that the rules should be changed and still supports that position. Minnesota Sen. 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 and is the leading Democratic Senate candidate in Florida, said in an NBC News interview this month that she is “very much in favor of pausing the filibuster and voting for a woman’s right to choose to codify Roe v. Wade.”
Her opponent, Republican Sen. Rick Scott, railed against 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 “a vital and necessary rule to protect minority party rights.”
“Should it be ‘paused’ to pass the Green New Deal? What about to stack the Supreme Court or eliminate the Electoral College?” Scott said in a statement to The Associated Press that referenced his opponent. "Should we get rid of it permanently or only pause it when (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer tells her to? Be honest with the people of Florida about where you draw the line on ‘pausing’ democracy, Congresswoman.”
It's not just Democratic lawmakers and candidates. In 2022, President Joe Biden said he supported a carve-out to the filibuster to codify abortion rights, an idea thwarted by two moderates who decided against running for reelection this year, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a Democrat turned independent.
Political experts say there might be heavy pressure from anti-abortion groups to lift the Senate filibuster if the GOP gains full control in Washington, but national organizations have de-emphasized the issue, at least publicly.
When asked last month in a Time magazine interview if he would veto a bill that would impose a federal ban, Trump did not answer directly. Instead, he said “there will never be that chance” because Republicans, even if they take back the Senate in November, 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 coordinated efforts underway to do so. Instead, she said if Trump is elected, the group would push him to consider taking administrative steps to restrict abortion, including banning the mailing and online sale of abortion pills.
Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said the organization has never taken a position on the question and instead accused Biden of being “intent on circumventing the filibuster.”
Democrats and abortion rights groups say they are skeptical Republicans would not attempt to lift the filibuster rule for a federal ban.
Mini Timmaraju, president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, said the GOP and anti-abortion forces “are ready to use every tool in their toolbox to ban abortion nationwide, and that includes circumventing the filibuster.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., also warned of a national ban if Republicans win the presidency and Congress.
“We cannot trust anything that Donald Trump says when it comes to abortion,” Whitmer said recently. “So no one should take any comfort in the fact that yes, he wants an abortion ban but he won’t get it because he doesn’t think we’ll have 60 votes in the Senate. Baloney.”
Trump has voiced conflicting views on the rule, depending on whether his party controlled the Senate. In 2017, his first year as president, he called for an end to the filibuster to move his agenda forward, including 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 with Democrats controlling Congress, he said removing the filibuster would be "catastrophic for the Republican Party."
Several high-ranking members of the Senate GOP — including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming — have said they are firmly against lifting the filibuster. Thune and Cornyn are running to replace McConnell when he steps down from leadership after the November election.
Sen. Jim Lankford, R-Okla., said this past week that GOP senators have discussed the issue during private meetings, and that he and others have said they want promises from those running for leader that they will not change the rules.
“It is something uniquely American to be able to have a place in government that both sides have to be a part of,” Lankford said.
