<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656085649061,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-c093-df17-a7ff-cedfaaf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656085649061,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-c093-df17-a7ff-cedfaaf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_56084672", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1039680"} }); ","_id":"00000181-9665-d66a-a7c3-d76d8b430000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedSen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Friday he is “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization striking down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and that he would support legislation codifying the standard previously set by Roe.
The ruling struck down the court’s prior rulings in both Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which legalized abortion nationwide, and concerned a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
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Manchin, who considers himself personally anti-abortion but backed the legal standard set by Roe, did not support a sweeping abortion rights bill in the Senate earlier this year on the grounds that it went beyond Roe. The bill failed when it did not garner enough support to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster. Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have vocally opposed removing the filibuster.
In his statement, Manchin said, “I am deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
“It has been the law of the land for nearly 50 years and was understood to be settled precedent,” Manchin added.
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Manchin also took aim at Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, whom he said he trusted “when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans.”
Manchin said that as a Catholic, he was “raised pro-life and will always consider myself pro-life.”
“But I have come to accept that my definition of pro-life may not be someone else’s definition of pro-life,” he said. “I believe that exceptions should be made in instances of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in jeopardy.
Manchin said he would support legislation that “would codify the rights Roe v. Wade previously protected.”
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“I am hopeful Democrats and Republicans will come together to put forward a piece of legislation that would do just that,” he said.
In its suit, Mississippi directly asked the high court to reconsider its landmark rulings in both Roe and Casey. In the Dobbs ruling, the court found that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, overturning its prior precedents. The ruling makes the legality of abortion a matter for the states, meaning abortion will be legal or illegal under state law rather than federal without the passage of any new federal measures.
