Anne GeggisA leaked report that appears to foretell the end the country’s constitutionally protected right to abortion has Democratic congressional candidate Jared Moskowitz firing off a call to immediately codify reproductive rights into law.
Moskowitz, a Broward County Commissioner seeking to represent residents of Broward and Palm Beach counties in Congress, distributed a release Tuesday morning calling for the filibuster to be bypassed so that Congress could guarantee abortion rights.
His release had strong words about the legitimacy of the current Supreme Court majority.
“We cannot allow these rights to be trampled by Republicans’ stolen Supreme Court majority they achieved by changing the rules and refusing to confirm Merrick Garland,” Moskowitz said in a statement.
The U.S. House of Representatives in September already passed legislation that would codify the right to abortion into federal law and supersede court rulings and state-level laws. The Women’s Health Protection Act passed with a vote of 218-211.
But, for the bill to become law, it would need the support of at least 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster. That would mean at least 10 Republican votes if every Democratic-voting Senator will agree. If the Democrats unified and were able to get one more vote, however, the nuclear option would allow the filibuster rules to be changed with a simple majority. But both sides have been reluctant to employ that method.
The Senate prides itself on being the world’s greatest deliberative body. But Moskowitz said Republicans have already gone nuclear.
“Republicans on the Supreme Court appear ready to go nuclear on the rights of women,” he texted. “They went nuclear when they bypassed Merrick Garland. Democrats should be prepared to protect them and codify Roe (v. Wade) into law even if we have to bypass the filibuster, which is a rule change.”
Moskowitz, who is running to succeed U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch in representing Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, said this moment calls for decisive action.
“Democrats cannot be afraid to do whatever it takes to protect reproductive freedom,” his statement said.
Moskowitz, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to lead the state’s Division of Emergency Management and sit on the Broward County Commission, has faced recent criticism that he’s not been sufficiently critical of the Republicans, specifically Gov. DeSantis. Among elected leaders, however, 75 Democrats have given him their endorsement.
To get the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat, Moskowitz is facing Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Ben Sorensen and political newcomer Curtis Calabrese, a United Airlines pilot and former Navy combat pilot.
