Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., not only should Congress pass a law to legalize abortion nationwide, they should increase the size of the Supreme Court and add liberal justices, due to his response to the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade if published.
Schiff proposed through a tweet what is commonly known as court-packing, in which he said he is not concerned with how Justice Samuel Alito’s draft leaked to the press, as Republicans have expressed outrage over it.
“I don’t care how the draft leaked. That’s a sideshow. What I care about is that a small number of conservative justices, who lied about their plans to the Senate, intend to deprive millions of women of reproductive care. Codifying Roe isn’t enough. We must expand the court,” Schiff said, per a report.
He did not say how many justices he would want on the court.
It appears that Justices Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh were the target of Schiff’s reference to lying justices, who during their confirmation processes discussed how Roe v. Wade is an established precedent that warrants significant deference.
Both passing an abortion bill and packing the Supreme Court are items that have been suggested by a number of lawmakers on the left. But, it would require the elimination of the filibuster if either of these would be done with the slim majority Democrats have in the House and Senate, something Schiff has also supported.
“Congress must codify protections for abortion rights. We must abolish the filibuster to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. Now,” Schiff tweeted.
As every Democrat in the Senate would be needed to abolish the filibuster, this would prove difficult. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have both said that they would not support this.