AOC calls Sen. Kyrsten Sinema 'an obstructionist' and says she should be primaried for not supporting filibuster reforms to pass abortion protections

• Rep. Ocasio-Cortez called Sen. Kyrsten Sinema "an obstructionist" and says she should be primaried.
• Democrats are calling on Congress to pass a bill codifying abortion protections.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Sen. Kyrsten Sinema "an obstructionist" and called for her to be primaried after the Arizona Senator said she wouldn't support changes to the Senate filibuster to pass a bill codifying abortion protections into federal law.

"We could protect Roe tomorrow, but Sinema refuses to act on the filibuster. Until that changes she can take a seat talking about 'women's access to health care,'" Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, tweeted on Tuesday. "Hold everyone contributing to this disaster accountable, GOP & Dem obstructionists included. She should be primaried."

—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2022

Democrats are calling for Congress to codify abortion rights after Politico published a draft Supreme Court opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, in which the court's majority would uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and overturn the federal protections for first-trimester abortion restrictions enshrined in the Roe v. Wade decision.

In September 2021, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed such a bill, the Women's Health Protection Act. But the chances of the legislation passing the evenly-divided US Senate are slim-to-none under the current filibuster rules, which require most legislation to earn a three-fifths majority of 60 votes to advance to a final vote.

Sinema, a longstanding supporter of the filibuster rules, has long argued that the 60 vote threshold forces senators to work together and "protects the country from wild swings in federal policy" when partisan control of Congress changes hands.

"A woman's health care choices should be between her, her family, and her doctor," Sinema said in a Tuesday statement. "Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women's access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever."

In February, the bill failed to advance in the Senate by a vote of 46-48, with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joining all voting Republicans in blocking the measure. And both Manchin and Sinema both struck the final nail in the coffin of Senate Democrats' voting rights push in January by voting against a one-time change to the filibuster rules.

Twice in 2015 and 2018, when Republicans controlled the Senate, two proposed bills that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks failed to attain the 60 votes necessary to move forward. In the 2018 vote, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined most Democrats in voting against advancing the 20-week ban bill.

Sinema's stance against modifying or eliminating the filibuster has earned her the ire of progressives, spurred Democrats to openly discuss primarying her, and cost her support from pro-choice groups. In January, both EMILY's List and NARAL Pro-Choice America's political arm said they would no longer support Sinema for office after she voted against modifying the filibuster to pass the voting rights bill.