Squad sends clear message after Texas passes voting law and near-total abortion

Washington DC - Squad members are demanding big structural changes after Texas Republicans passed a restrictive voting law and implemented a near-total abortion ban earlier this week.

Several Squad members have called for an expansion of the Supreme Court following the justices' decision not to block Texas' six-week abortion ban.
Several Squad members have called for an expansion of the Supreme Court following the justices' decision not to block Texas' six-week abortion ban.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Texas shot into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons after the Supreme Court on Wednesday night voted 5-4 not to block the state's near-total abortion ban.

The law effectively outlaws abortions after six weeks and, astonishingly, empowers private citizens to sue anyone they accuse of being involved in an abortion procedure.

Though SCOTUS has yet to rule on the constitutionality of the law itself, women's rights advocates and progressive politicians are outraged by the court's inaction, which allowed Texas Republicans to implement the ban at midnight on September 1.

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The current conservative-majority court also doesn't have a great track record when it comes to voting rights, earlier this year choosing to gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act of remaining enforcement mechanisms to protect voters of color.

Texas legislature on Tuesday joined a slew of GOP-controlled states in passing a restrictive elections bill that will disproportionately impact Black and brown voters.

In light of these developments, Squad members are renewing calls to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court.

Missouri Rep. Cori Bush tweeted, "This is what far-right extremism looks like. We need to expand the court." Her colleague from New York, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, wrote, "Expanding the Supreme Court is a matter of life and death."

Currently, there are nine justices on the court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, but at different points in American history, that total number has differed.

Justices are appointed for life, so without an expansion of the court, progressives worry that key rights will be in danger for years to come, posing an existential threat to people around the country.

Squad members continue calls to end the filibuster

Voting rights activists marched on the US Capitol earlier in August to demand an end to the filibuster, among other measures.
Voting rights activists marched on the US Capitol earlier in August to demand an end to the filibuster, among other measures.  © IMAGO / Pacific Press Agency

But the Squad isn't only demanding a restructuring in the judicial system. They are also pursuing big changes to the legislative process by continuing calls to end the Senate filibuster.

The threat of filibuster means passing most legislation requires a supermajority of 60 Senate votes rather than a simple majority of 50.

Currently, two federal voting rights bills remain stalled in the Senate. If passed, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would undermine many of the restrictions enacted in the Texas law.

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Democrats' narrow majority in the upper chamber, together with the filibuster, is preventing this and other Democratic-priority legislation from advancing – and the Squad has had enough.

"Democrats can either abolish the filibuster and expand the court, or do nothing as millions of peoples’ bodies, rights, and lives are sacrificed for far-right minority rule. This shouldn’t be a difficult decision," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib echoed similar sentiments: "Abortion is healthcare. We must do everything we can to fortify that fundamental right – that means abolishing the filibuster and expanding the Court."

"Republicans aren’t stopping. They’ll keep suppressing the vote in state after state after state unless the Senate acts now. Abolish the filibuster. Pass the For the People Act. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Save our democracy," Jamaal Bowman wrote.

At the moment, Senate Democrats don't appear to have enough votes to do away with the filibuster, as West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema continue to oppose the move.

Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

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