During a rally on Friday, President Biden, Vice President Harris and the nation’s top abortion rights groups will likely highlight how the administration has tried to preserve and expand abortion access, as well as call attention to how Republicans across the country are backing restrictive abortion laws.
During the event, EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America are planning to endorse Biden and Harris for reelection as a way to highlight how important the issue of abortion will be for Democrats moving forward.
Ever since the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats. It helped propel them to a better-than-expected result in the midterm elections last fall and will remain pivotal in the 2024 presidential race.
Democrats don’t have the votes to codify abortion protections into law, though the White House has worked over the past year to make its case for reproductive rights. The administration has taken limited actions over the past year, and Biden has called on Americans to elect more Democrats in order to protect abortion rights.
The Dobbs decision gives the Biden administration a tangible way to argue that a Republican in the White House could open a path for a possible future national ban — something leading anti-abortion rights groups are pressing GOP presidential candidates to commit to backing.
The Republican response to Dobbs is playing out in real time, with some GOP lawmakers leaning into their anti-abortion rights credentials and others holding back. Meanwhile, the decision has seemingly energized Democrats and abortion rights supporters to be much more proactive.
A Gallup poll published earlier this month found 69 percent of Americans said abortion should generally be legal during the first three months of pregnancy, a record-high for the survey. A majority did not approve of later-term abortions, but more than in the pre-Dobbs years.
