In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris expressed support for ending the filibuster in order to restore federal abortion protections.

Said Harris:

I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe … to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom, and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.

Abortion has become a pivotal issue in the presidential race, with Harris outpolling Trump on the topic, particularly since Trump was instrumental in upending abortion rights due to his appointing three far-right justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade was overturned in the summer of 2022.

The filibuster — which requires 60 votes in the Senate in order to pass any piece of legislation, instead of the standard 50 percent vote-plus-one threshold that, constitutionally, SHOULD be how bills are passed — stands in the way of several pieces of legislation, including reproductive and abortion rights bills. But even if Harris wins the election, changing the Senate rules will require Democrats to have a majority in that chamber come next year — and right now, it’s looking like Republicans have a better chance at winning the Senate than Democrats do of retaining it.

And with all of that said, Democrats would have to control the House, too, to even get a bill to the Senate for consideration.

Still, Harris’s comments here are important, as she expresses a desire to end what has to be one of the worst rules in Congress, which stifles many proposals that voters across the country want to see passed — including expanding abortion rights. It’s long-past time to say “goodbye” to the filibuster, which has done more harm than good for our country across a number of generations.

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