US President Joe Biden on Friday said that Republicans seeking a nationwide ban on abortion would not stop there as he urged supporters to channel their outrage into mobilizing votes for Democrats in 2024.
“We will not let the most personal of decisions fall into the hands of politicians,” he said. “Make no mistake, this election is about freedom on the ballot once again.”
Just 1.6km from where Biden rallied abortion rights supporters on the eve of the anniversary of the US Supreme Court ruling that overturned federal abortion protections, the Faith & Freedom Coalition was holding its annual conference, and Vice President Mike Pence urged his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination to support a 15-week federal abortion ban — at the minimum.
Photo: EPA-EFE
One year after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, both sides are leaning into the issue. Biden on Friday issued an executive order seeking to bolster access to contraception and picked up a trio of top-level endorsements at the rally with Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff.
A number of Republican hopefuls were set to speak at the evangelical summit this weekend, emphasizing their anti-abortion credentials and urging like-minded activists to stay on the political offensive amid concerns it could backfire.
A majority of Americans want legalized abortion nationwide. In the lead-up to last year’s midterm elections, many political pundits dismissed the issue as a galvanizer, but it was among the top concerns for voters, who consistently rejected efforts to restrict abortion in Democratic and Republican-leaning states when given the chance.
“Reproductive freedom is an issue for all of us. Men, women, everyone. Women cannot be less-than,” Emhoff said.
Biden’s executive order aims to boost access to contraception, a growing concern for Democrats after some conservatives have signaled a willingness to push beyond abortion into regulation of birth control.
In 2017, nearly 65 percent or 46.9 million of the 72.2 million girls and women age 15 to 49 in the US used a form of contraception. The order aims to increase and expand options, lower out-of-pocket costs and raise awareness about options.
Biden said he regretted that he even had to sign such an order.
“The idea, that I had to do that — really, think about it,” he said.
Pence’s comments on Friday amounted to a challenge for Republican front-runner, former US president Donald Trump, who has been reluctant to endorse a federal abortion ban.
The former president was set to address the evangelical assembly yesterday night.
“We must not rest and we must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country,” Pence said.
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