President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that the measure to reinstate Roe v. Wade’s abortion rights will be the first bill he sends to the new Congress. Biden also promised to sign the legislation into law around the anniversary of the original Roe decision in late January in a speech at a DNC event in Washington.
Biden said, “I want you to remember that the final say does not rest in the court now. It does not rest with extremist Republicans in Congress,” “Your right to choose rests with you, and if you do your part and vote, Democratic leaders of Congress, I promise you, will do our part. I will do my part” added the President.
Biden admitted that the success of his ideas depends on Democrats keeping control of the House and expanding their margin in the Senate. His latest pledge thus seems to be specifically intended to motivate Democrats to vote in large numbers in the approaching midterm elections when the party is battling to hold onto its razor-thin majorities.
Since the Supreme Court’s decision this summer overturning Roe, Biden has stepped up his criticism of Republicans in regard to abortion rights. In the midterm elections, he forecast that there would be a huge uptick in voter turnout that would be directed against the decision, particularly among women voters. The GOP’s efforts to limit rights, according to Biden, will not stop with abortion; protections for contraception and same-sex marriage may follow.
More than a dozen states have approved a nearly complete ban on abortion, though some have been overturned by courts and more states want to do so. Biden cautioned that Republicans desire a federal prohibition that would make physicians criminals for delivering abortions in his speech on Tuesday.
