Vice President Kamala Harris says she supports eliminating the Senate filibuster to restore abortion rights that were eliminated when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
The Democratic presidential nominee made the remarks during a radio interview that aired Tuesday morning in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where polls show her effectively tied with former Republican President Donald Trump.
"I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe," she told Wisconsin Public Radio. "And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do."
The filibuster is a tactic that prevents senators from voting on bills unless 60 of them approve, but it was eliminated for executive branch and Supreme Court nominations in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
The Senate is now controlled by Democrats, 51-49, but Republicans are all but certain to flip the seat held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
If Harris wins the White House and the Democrats don't lose any other seats — leaving the Senate evenly divided — running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would have the tie-breaking vote that is currently held by her.
"It is well within our reach to hold onto the majority in the Senate and take back the House," Harris told WPR.
To pass an abortion rights bill, Democrats would also need to recapture the House, which is now controlled by Republicans, 220-212, with three vacancies.
Harris has repeatedly pledged to sign a law enshrining abortion rights nationwide if given the opportunity. She has accused Trump of planning to do the opposite and ban abortions in the U.S.
During their Sept. 15 debate, Trump didn't answer directly when asked if he would sign an anti-abortion bill. But on Friday, Trump wrote on his social media website that women "will no longer be thinking about abortion" if he returned to the White House.
Trump repeated that claim during a campaign rally Monday in Pennsylvania, where he also said he'd be a "protector" of American women.
On Saturday, NBC News said new polling showed support for Harris among female voters had increased to 58% from 50% in July, while 37% supported Trump, down slightly from 38% in July.
