President Joe Biden trashed Florida's six-week abortion ban during a campaign stop in Tampa. And if he wins re-election with Democratic majorities in Congress, he promised to preempt the state law in Florida and nationwide.
"Elect a Democratic Congress and I will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again," Biden said.
Biden's visit to Tampa marked the clearest sign yet that the Democrat believes Florida will be a battleground state in November. The campaign has emphasized that prospect ever since the Florida Supreme Court upheld a ban on abortions six weeks into pregnancy that's set to go into effect next week.
While the law was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by Republican supermajorities in the Legislature, Biden put responsibility for the law at one man's feet: former President Donald Trump.
Florida and other states around the country were able to enact more restrictive laws in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court, including three Justices appointed by Trump, voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Health decision, ending the constitutional protection for abortion rights.
"Trump bragged how proud he was to get rid of Roe v. Wade. He took credit for it," Biden said. "He said there has to be punishment for women exercising their reproductive freedom. His words, not mine. He described the Dobbs decision as a miracle. Maybe that's coming from the Bible he's trying to sell."
But Biden said Trump and others now conspicuously avoid campaigning on abortion.
"Donald Trump is worried voters are going to hold him accountable for the chaos he created, folks." Biden said. "The bad news for Trump is we are going to hold them accountable."
The President's re-election campaign has spotlighted personal stories from women affected by abortion bans across the state. In Tampa, Biden was introduced by Kaitlyn Joshua, a Louisiana woman who was denied a medically needed abortion because of a near-total ban on procedures there. She described a wanted pregnancy that ended with her having to pass a non-viable fetus at home.
"I started experiencing major blood loss and pain worse than childbirth. My husband was at work at the time so I drove myself to the emergency room," Joshua shared. "I was having a miscarriage, but because of the state's abortion ban, the health care team was afraid to tell me what was happening. They sent me home saying they would pray for me."
Biden praised the woman both for enduring the pain of the lost pregnancy and for sharing the story publicly. The President also presented the 2024 election as the only remaining safeguard against a federal abortion ban, noting the Republicans in Congress have filed multiple bills seeking a restriction on the practice nationwide.
"If Congress ever passes a ban, I will veto that ban," Biden promised, and he said Vice President Kamala Harris remained as steadfast a supporter of a woman's right to choose.
While the Tampa speech focused clearly on reproductive rights, he also raised a few other issues. He expressed a desire to make community college free for all Americans. He also said the court needs Justices to counter threats beyond abortion rights, including potentially overturning marriage equality and access to birth control.
But repeatedly, he brought remarks back to abortion rights, lumping Florida's law with controversial measures like a recently upheld Arizona law dating back to 1864 that outlaws nearly all abortions, and an Alabama abortion ban courts there recently said applied to in vitro fertilization. Now, he said Florida's law within days will compromise access to care for 4.4 million women.
"It was Donald Trump who ripped away the rights of women in America," Biden said. "We would all love to restore those rights for women in America. When you do that, we'll teach Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans a valuable lesson: don't mess with the women of America."
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