President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that the first bill he would send to Congress would codify Roe v. Wade and that he would sign it into law on the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court abortion decision — if Democrats retain their congressional majorities.
Biden made the comment in a short but wide-ranging political stump speech at Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., but he has staked Democrats’ chances in November on the backlash against the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe over the summer in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
“If we do that … the first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade,” Biden said of Democratic gains in November. “And when Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January, 50 years after Roe was first decided the law of the land.”
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Biden called on Democrats to remember how they felt the day Roe was overturned.
“The anger, the worry, the disbelief, the unbelievable fact that for the first time in our history, the Supreme Court didn’t just fail to preserve a constitutional freedom, it actually took away the right that was so fundamental to Americans,” he said. “It took away a right. And the fear that now that most personal decisions may not only be made by the woman and her doctor but by politicians to make that decision.”
Biden predicted a backlash from women at the ballot box.
“The Dobbs decision — the court practically dares women to go ahead and lead and be heard,” he said.
The Senate is currently split 50-50, under Democratic control solely because of Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote. Republicans could regain the majority with a net gain of one seat.
Even at the current Democratic numbers, the party cannot break a Republican filibuster of federal abortion rights legislation. The specific bill Congress has voted on does not have the support of all 50 Democrats or any pro-choice Republican senators because it is widely seen as nullifying state-level abortion restrictions and allowing post-viability abortions.
“Right now, we’re short a handful of votes,” Biden acknowledged. “If you care about the right to choose, then you got to vote.”
The Democrats’ House majority isn’t much larger, and Republicans are heavily favored to win that chamber in November. But the GOP’s Senate prospects are more tenuous.
“That’s why, in these midterm elections, it’s so critical to elect more Democratic senators to the United States Senate and more Democrats to keep control of the House of Representatives,” Biden said.
If the Democrats were to gain Senate seats in November, a tall feat, they could potentially eliminate the filibuster and advance the legislation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not elaborate on whether the bill Biden would send would be the same as the one Congress has previously voted on.
The 50th anniversary of Roe would take place on Jan. 22.
Biden vowed to sign such a federal abortion bill into law. But if Republicans take control and enact national abortion restrictions, he pledged, speaking in a whisper, to “veto it.”
Anti-abortion groups denounced Biden’s remarks.
“The stakes of the midterm elections could not be higher,” Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “President Biden is making clear today that if Democrats control Congress in 2023, they will destroy the filibuster and pass their Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act to mandate abortion on demand in all 50 states. We encourage pro-life Republicans to keep going on offense to expose this extremist position.”
“President Biden’s desperate attempt to sway voters by pushing painful abortions is clear evidence of how out of touch he is,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life. “Ninety percent of Americans reject Biden’s view that abortion should be legal up until birth for any reason – paid for by taxpayers. Our country is facing significant challenges and looking for positive solutions, not more violence and death. It is time for Americans to hold pro-abortion politicians accountable.”
“Catholics are appalled by the unprecedented abortion extremism pursued by the nation’s second Catholic President,” Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, said. “While Americans struggle with record inflation, the President of the United States has nothing to offer but a pledge to expand the right to violently destroy innocent unborn children — up until birth and for any reason.”
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Most polls show inflation and the economy as the top voter concerns. But abortion is a major motivator for Democrats and a factor in races across the country.
