Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is calling for big changes after the Supreme Court refused to block Texasâ strict abortion law.
In a tweet on Wednesday night, the New York Congresswoman said, âRepublicans promised to overturn Roe v Wade, and they have.â
âDemocrats can either abolish the filibuster and expand the court, or do nothing as millions of peoplesâ bodies, rights, and lives are sacrificed for far-right minority rule,â she continued.
Finally, she said, âThis shouldnât be a difficult decision.â
Ocasio-Cortezâs comments come after the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling did not block Texasâ abortion law which is the most restrictive in the nation.
The law, which went into effect on Wednesday, bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. It also provides incentives for individuals to sue anyone suspected of helping a woman get an abortion by providing a reward of at least $10,000.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the courtâs three liberal judges in the dissent.
The New York Times reports, âThe majority opinion was unsigned and consisted of a single long paragraph. It said the abortion providers who had challenged the law in an emergency application to the court had not made their case in the face of âcomplex and novelâ procedural questions. The majority stressed that it was not ruling on the constitutionality of the Texas law and did not mean to limit âprocedurally proper challengesâ to it.â
Progressives have been pushing Senate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, a procedural hurdle used to delay or block legislation, which would let them pass bills with just 51 votes in the upper chamber instead of 60.
The Senate is currently divided 50-50, meaning Democrats need at least 10 Republicans to vote for legislation for it to pass the chamber.
Meanwhile, some Democrats want to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority after former President Donald Trump appointed three justices.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) suggested that four seats should be added to the court to create a 7-6 liberal majority, which he claimed would âshore up the publicâs confidence in the court and its legitimacy in the publicâs eyes.â
