President Joe Biden made a deal Tuesday with rank-and-file Democrats: Elect more Democrats to Congress, and he’ll sign a law codifying abortion rights on the January anniversary of the 1973 Roe v Wade decision the Supreme Court reversed in June.
“It’s vital to elect more Democrats. … If we do this, here’s the promise I make to you and the American people: The primary bill that I’ll send to the Congress shall be to codify Roe v. Wade,” Biden said at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington.
“Your right to decide on rests with you. When you do your part and vote the Democratic leaders of Congress, I promise you, we’ll do our part. I’ll do my part. And together with your support, I’ll sign a law codifying Roe in January,” the president said.
The president’s remarks were aimed toward reigniting the anger pro-abortion rights supporters felt after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, handed down in June, overturned a half-century of guaranteed abortion rights across America. Because the ruling, Biden said, 16 states have passed abortion bans, forcing women to travel for the procedure.
The ruling appears to have initially motivated Democrats and feminine voters: In five special elections for Congress since Dobbs, Democrats have overperformed in each one, including unexpectedly winning an upstate Recent York congressional seat. Further, women have been registering to vote at substantially higher rates across the country, in response to analyses by the group TargetSmart.
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But there have also been signs in polling that voters are one other pressing national issue – inflation and the economy, and Democrats are frightened that swing voters will turn to Republicans to seek out ways to scale back their grocery and gas bills.
A Recent York Times/Siena College poll released Monday, for instance, found that 49% of those surveyed plan to vote for Republicans for Congress, and 44% will select a Democrat. That poll found that 26% cited the economy as crucial problem facing the country today, with inflation and the fee of living next in line, with 18% of voters naming it as the highest concern. Abortion was cited as the highest issue by just 5% of voters.
Democrats are skeptical about that individual poll. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, called it an “outlier” on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Tuesday afternoon. And other polls indeed show different trends: A Morning Seek the advice of survey released Tuesday, for instance, has Democrats leading the “generic ballot” with 48% voter support, in comparison with 45% for Republicans. A Fox News poll taken through the same days because the Siena College poll also gives Democrats the advantage, with 44% support, in comparison with 41% who back Republicans.
However the economy – especially inflation – continues to dog Biden’s presidency and drawbacks Democrats running for the closely divided House and Senate.
Emphasizing abortion rights cannot be the only strategy, Democratic operatives say, arguing that Biden needs to handle the high cost of living. In that vein, they note, the president’s reported plan to release more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to counter OPEC’s decision to scale back oil production may ease gas prices and with it, some voter anxiety. Biden is planning to discuss gas prices on Wednesday.
However the president and fellow Democrats also have to keep reminding the rank and file of the stakes for abortion access if Republicans indeed take back control of the House and Senate, Democratic officials say.
“It looks like something to create a latest call to motion for his base,” says Joel Payne, a veteran Democratic strategist. “There isn’t a national narrative that may cover everyone’s situation,” but abortion is a very important issue for voters the Democrats have to prove this fall to win key seats, he says.
Biden on Tuesday underscored what is occurring – and what might occur later – if Republicans seize control of Congress. Women and girls are already being denied prescriptions in some communities for maladies reminiscent of rheumatoid arthritis, for the reason that drugs might be used to terminate a pregnancy, he said. Females experiencing miscarriages are being turned away from emergency rooms and told to return after they are sicker, since treatment for miscarriage involves abortion.
While he would veto any abortion ban while in office, Republicans would lay the groundwork to outlaw abortion across the land, the president warned.
Biden made a specific appeal to young people, reminding them of issues he has delivered on – reminiscent of gun control, pardons for possession of marijuana and forgiving student debt.
He urged them to “remember the way you felt the day the intense Dobbs decision got here down.”
“The ultimate say about the fitting to decide on, it rests with you,” Biden said.
