WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during a town hall on Monday said that he would pass legislation making Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a nationwide right to abortion, "the law of the land."
During the NBC town hall in Miami, Florida, Cassidy Brown said having birth control and reproductive health care enabled her to start a career before having a family. She asked Biden about his plan if President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett overturned women's reproductive rights.
"Number 1, we don't know exactly what she would do. Although, the expectation is that she may very well overrule Roe," Biden replied during the town hall. "The only response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe a law of the land. That's what I would do."
President Trump on Tuesday reacted to Biden's statements by tweeting, "Joe Biden just took a more Liberal position on Roe v. Wade than Elizabeth Warren at her highest."
"He also wants to PACK our great United States Supreme Court. This is what the Dems will do. Remember as they try changing positions before elections end. GET OUT AND VOTE!," he added.
The Republican-led Senate is refusing to delay Barrett's confirmation. There are even plans to make special arrangements so COVID-19 positive senators can vote for her.
The rush to confirm Trump's third court nominee is as much about securing a conservative court for a generation to come as it is about giving Republicans what they see as their best chances at re-election. With Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in polls and their own Senate majority at risk, Republicans hope a vote on a Supreme Court nominee in the week before Election Day will save their jobs.
Democrats and their allies point to the ways Republicans refused in February 2016 to consider then-President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, claiming it was too close to the presidential election that year. Democrats, led by Biden, say the winner of the upcoming presidential election should choose the nominee.
Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that the Republican leadership “has truly lost touch with reality if it’s contemplating marching COVID-stricken members to the Senate to rush through a Supreme Court nominee.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Judge Barrett are scheduled to begin Oct. 12.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
