(CNSNews.com) – President Biden said Monday that he doesn’t think there will be enough votes in the House to codify Roe v. Wade, something that he has been pushing for ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
At the end of a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, a reporter shouted a question about what Americans should expect from Congress as it relates to abortion rights after the midterms.
“I don't think they can expect much of anything other than we'll maintain our positions. I’m not going to get into more questions. I shouldn’t have even answered your question,” the president said.
The reporter followed up asking about whether Congress will be able to codify abortion as the president pledged to do once the new Congress is sworn in, in January.
“No, no, I don't think that-- I don't think there’s enough votes to codify unless something happens unusual in the House. I think we're going to get very close in the House, but I don’t-- I think it’s going to be very close, but I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Biden said.
The president began the press conference talking about the midterm elections, saying that there was “a strong rejection of election deniers at every level from those seeking to lead our states and those seeking to serve in Congress and also those seeking to oversee the elections.”
Let me start with a few words about the recent elections held in the United States. What we saw was the strength and resilience of the American democracy, and we saw it in action, and the American people proved once again that democracy is who we are. There was a strong rejection of election deniers at every level from those seeking to lead our states and those seeking to serve in Congress and also those seeking to oversee the elections.
There was a strong rejection of political violence and voter intimidation. There was an emphatic statement that in America the will of the people prevails. I have traveled this week. It’s been clear just how closely the world and our allies and our competitors are following our elections at home. ... and what these elections showed is that there is a deep and unwavering commitment in America to preserving and protecting and defending democracy.