But officials within the Biden campaign and across the Democratic Party see abortion rights as a silver bullet that could supersede all of the president’s agenda in a rematch with former President Donald Trump.
The Biden campaign spent every day leading up to Nov. 5 reminding voters of President Trump’s record on abortion, hoping the issue would mobilize core voters and bring disaffected voters back into the fold, something Democrats have never done before. It is hoped that it will win over voters it has struggled to attract.
“There’s no question that this issue is at the heart of the contrast between us and Mr. Trump,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, Mr. Biden’s campaign chair, said in an interview. “It’s impossible for him to escape ownership of this issue.”
He said the campaign aims to connect the abortion issue to a broader message about President Trump’s chaotic and divisive record. O’Malley Dillon said of voters, “They are increasingly being reminded of what they wanted to forget: the chaos and pain caused by President Trump’s leadership.” “Abortion is central to that.”
Overturn Supreme Court ruling in 2022 Roe vs. Wade Democrats then won the 2022 midterm elections and the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election. Party leaders fear the issue will lose importance among voters as states across the country introduce restrictive abortion bans and continue to put the issue in front of the public. , has almost subsided.
The latest example came Tuesday when the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, a decision that was condemned by Democrats as well as many Republicans. Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes in 2020, but the court action could push the state even more firmly into the Democratic fold.
The day before the court’s decision, President Trump said abortion policy should be left to individual states, a move seen as a retreat from his previous position and angered some anti-abortion activists. When the Arizona High Court handed down its ruling the next day, President Trump criticized it as going too far.
The Biden campaign’s increased response this week is indicative of the party’s strategy on abortion and the opportunity it sees to energize voters who may be turning away from the president.
Biden himself condemned Trump’s comments on abortion in a lengthy statement. Vice President Harris announced a visit to Arizona. The campaign slammed remarks that reminded voters of the former president’s record. Democrats emphasized the individual stories of families affected by abortion regulations.
Mr. Biden’s team also released a new ad criticizing Mr. Trump for nearly dying a woman who developed a serious infection after her water broke and she was denied an abortion.
The 60-second spot focuses on Texas woman Amanda Zurowski and shows her and her husband going through boxes of items they’ve collected for their baby, whom they plan to name Willow. Ta. Zurawski’s water broke at 18 weeks, but the ad says that due to Texas laws that severely restrict abortions, doctors initially decided to cancel the pregnancy despite the risk of infection and the near certainty of losing the baby. He said he sent her home from the hospital without finishing her treatment.
In the ad, Zulawski began to cry when the screen showed that she might never be able to conceive again after nearly dying from an infection. “Donald Trump did this,” the ad concludes.
In response to the Arizona decision, the campaign released a second abortion-focused ad, announcing it was spending seven figures on two abortion ads in the state.
A series of Republicans, including Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, have recanted their broad anti-abortion views, a move Democrats believe is a long-held position that Republicans perceive as politically dangerous. They claim that this is proof that there is.
The Trump campaign rejected the Democratic effort.President Trump claims this is the end Roe vs. Wade He argued that it was the right thing to do and that leaving abortion up to the states would undermine Democratic political advantage. Allies of the former president say the abortion rights backlash is far from overcoming Biden’s vulnerabilities, ranging from his age (Biden is 81, Trump is 77) to inflation and illegal immigration. claims.
But the Biden campaign sees reproductive freedom as a powerful message, especially to win back young voters and people of color who are outraged by the president’s support for Israel and military operations in Gaza. Mr. Biden has hugged Israel tightly since October 7, when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
But in recent months, Biden has said Israeli military attacks have killed more than 31,000 Palestinians and the United Nations says children are starting to starve to death at serious risk of starvation. There are growing calls from many Democratic politicians for the United States to take a tougher stance on Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden has called on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but has so far resisted calls to impose conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.
Biden campaign officials have privately acknowledged that the violence in Gaza is a significant hurdle for the president, and are hopeful that a diplomatic breakthrough will end or significantly reduce the fighting. But even if that doesn’t happen, the campaign’s internal polling shows that abortion is more important to many voters than the war in Gaza, according to people familiar with the poll who requested anonymity to discuss confidential material. It turned out to be important.
For this reason, Biden campaign officials are hopeful that even many dissatisfied voters will pull the lever on Biden in November.
Trump, on the other hand, has made contradictory statements about abortion over the years. Decades ago, he described himself as pro-choice. Years later, he said he was pro-life. As president, he nominated conservative Supreme Court justices who upheld and overturned the 20-week abortion ban. Roe vs. Wade.
Trump, who is now running for president again, said the issue should be decided by each state, adding that he would not sign any federal bill to ban or restrict abortion. He suggested Republicans shouldn’t take positions on abortion that risk losing elections.
Against this backdrop, the Biden campaign is trying to emphasize President Trump’s role in ending the pandemic. egg And his statement that he was proud to do so. O’Malley Dillon said: “There’s no way Donald Trump can be ‘moderate’ on this issue.”
Campaign officials say Trump’s inconsistent history on the issue has provided a rare opportunity to define the former president’s image to voters. In most other areas, Trump’s positions and actions are well known to voters, so Democrats have little opportunity to change their minds.
Molly Murphy, one of Biden’s pollsters, said of swing voters that “abortion wasn’t a big factor in their minds during President Trump’s first term.” “And we all know who was watching this closely, but we all know that Trump is pushing abortion rights and protections, especially Dobbs But in many ways, the average voter hasn’t been paying close attention to it, and that was a long time ago. ”
She added: “This is another opportunity to position him as an architect of overturning the national system.” egg, It meant something to the people, and more importantly, it meant something to the man who, if returned to the Oval Office, would continue to take away and dismantle these rights. ”
Planned Parenthood Vote spokeswoman Ianthe Metzger praised the Biden campaign’s focus on the impact abortion regulations have on people’s lives.
“There’s no need to overstate the situation,” Metzger said. “The facts speak for themselves. We are facing an abortion care crisis.”
Democrats also point to abortion-related voting activity as helping Biden’s electoral prospects. Florida has approved a ballot initiative to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, and organizers in Nevada and Arizona hope to collect enough signatures to put similar initiatives on the ballot in their states. states that.
Mr. Biden won Nevada and Arizona by narrow margins in 2020, and with this voting measure, Democrats will not only vote for Mr. Biden, but also encourage the volunteer work and organizations of Democratic supporters, including Senate and House candidates. I am optimistic that activity will pick up.
Still, the challenge remains for Biden, who is not a natural pro-abortion advocate. A devout Catholic, he has evolved on the issue throughout his long political career, but has been slow at times to support universal abortion rights and is clearly uncomfortable with saying the word “abortion.” He has been criticized by liberal activists for his beliefs.
But Biden’s allies point to his decades-long record of supporting reproductive rights and recent calls for Congress to codify it. egg This is evidence of his strong stance on this issue and the stark contrast with President Trump.
Asked by a reporter Wednesday what message he would send to Arizonans after the state reinstated its 1864 abortion ban, Biden said it was a Civil War era law enacted when Arizona was a territory. He scoffed at the idea of reinstating the statute.
“Pick me. I’m in the 20th century, 21st century, but not in those days,” Biden said. “They weren’t even a nation.”
