Biden to say that codifying Roe will be a priority if Democrats expand majorities
President Joe Biden is expected to pledge on Tuesday that the first bill he would send to Congress next year if Democrats retain House control and expand their Senate majority would be to codify abortion rights across the country, according to a Democratic official.
The commitment comes as the White House and Democratic candidates have been increasingly focused on protecting abortion access before the midterm elections next month, seeking to broaden support among women and independent voters.
Biden said this summer that he supported ending the filibuster to protect a woman’s right to an abortion and a broader constitutional right to privacy.
The president will speak on Tuesday afternoon at an event that is being hosted by the Democratic National Committee at the Howard Theater in Washington.
In his remarks, Biden will lay out what is at stake in the midterm elections, casting them as a choice between Republicans who have called for a national abortion ban and Democrats who want to protect reproductive freedom, the Democratic official said.
Abortion rights have been a central focus of political campaigns since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ending the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
Most abortions are now banned in at least 14 states, and other states are engaged in legal fights over access.
Biden administration officials estimate that nearly 30 million women of reproductive age live in a state with a ban and that about 22 million women cannot access abortion care after six weeks.
Biden unveiled new measures this month to try to protect abortion access. He directed the Education Department to remind universities that they cannot discriminate against students on the basis of pregnancy, including if a pregnancy has been terminated.
The Department of Health and Human Services also announced US$6 million in grants to expand access to family planning clinics that receive Title X federal funding.
“Right now, we’re short a handful of votes,” Biden said this month at the White House. “The only way it’s going to happen is if the American people make it happen.”
It is not clear that Democrats’ focus on abortion is resonating. A poll released this week found that the economy was a far more important issue to voters and that women who identified as independent voters were swinging sharply in favor of Republicans.
In his speech Tuesday, Biden was expected to say that if Congress passed legislation to codify abortion rights, he would sign it next year around the 50th anniversary of the Roe decision.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES