Progressives renew call for U.S. Supreme Court expansion after abortion rights decision

WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. House Democrats Monday called for the passage of legislation that would add four justices to the Supreme Court, following the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that provided the constitutional right to abortion. 

“It’s an ultra-right-wing Republican Supreme Court,” Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia said during a press conference outside the Capitol. “It is a Supreme Court where basic freedoms are under assault.”

The bill, H.R. 2584, introduced by Johnson, would expand the court from nine to 13 seats. The court’s current ideological makeup is six to three in favor of conservative-leaning justices. 

Johnson’s legislation has 58 co-sponsors, all Democrats. However, if passed by the House, the measure would be dead on arrival in the 50-50 Senate, where any bill needs to meet a 60-vote threshold to advance.

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