Dem Sen. Chris Murphy predicts abortion issue will drive big voter turnout for midterms

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Sen. Chris Murphy on abortion issue: 'This will push a lot of people to the polls'

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., weighs in on threats made against Supreme Court justices in light of leaked opinion draft, efforts to codify Roe v. Wade into law and the effects this issue could have on November's midterms.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said Sunday he views the filibuster as "anti-democratic" because Democrats right now don’t have enough votes to codify Roe v. Wade, but he expects renewed attention around abortion "will push a lot of people to the polls" in November for the midterm elections. 

"Frankly, I think the filibuster is fundamentally anti-democratic. If you win control of the House, Senate and the White House, you probably should have the ability to enact your agenda," Murphy said during an exclusive sit-down interview with "Fox News Sunday."

"And you’d have that same thought in the minority?" Fox News host Bret Baier challenged.

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"I would, and I think it’s pretty clear to me that if Republicans get control of the Senate, they will get rid of the filibuster in order to pass a national ban on abortion," Murphy argued. "They got rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court justices for the explicit purpose of putting on the court justices who would strike down Roe v. Wade. And so, I think you can naturally assume they would also change the rules to pass that national abortion ban."

After a draft opinion leaked to Politico was made public last week, Democrats have been advocating for legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, but holding such procedural vote would only serve to send a political message before the midterms because Senate Democrats lack the vote.  

"It is important right now that we get every senator on the record ‘do you support a woman's right to make decisions over their own body or do you think that the government should be in charge?’" Murphy said. "Because this is soon not going to be about state legislatures pretty soon this is going to be an effort to pass a federal ban everywhere on abortions in this country."

"If Republicans get control of the House and the Senate and the White House, which certainly could happen in the next three years, they are absolutely going to pass a national ban on abortion that will affect every single family, every single woman in this country," the senator added. 

Murphy said he anticipated the abortion issue to drive voter turnout come November. 

"I think it's going to be a huge turnout push but not just for sort of Democrats, the big middle of the country. In fact, the majority of Republicans in this country oppose the full overturning of Roe vs. Wade," he said. "Ultimately, I think this is going to push a lot of people to the polls this November, that may have otherwise stayed home because they see that this fight is coming not just in the state legislatures but in Washington as well." 

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He condemned threats of violence against Supreme Court justices, but also argued the leak of the draft opinion should be less of a concern and the "outrage here should be about what's going to happen to women and families in this country." 

"The fact that women and doctors are going to be sent to jail immediately when this opinion becomes a reality," Murphy said. "If in these states with trigger laws all of a sudden abortion under any circumstances, even under rape, incest, it becomes illegal and criminalized."