“Abortion Rights and the 2024 US Presidential Election: President Biden’s Call to Action”

WA statement made clear on Friday evening local time about the political explosiveness of the topic of abortion for the next presidential election in the USA. Nine minutes after the Supreme Court in Washington announced that access to the abortion pill mifepristone remains secured for the time being, US President Joe Biden addressed the nation.

“I will continue to fight against politically motivated attacks on women’s health. But let’s be clear — the American people must continue to use their ballot as a voice and elect a Congress that will pass legislation restoring Roe vs. Wade protections,” Biden said.

The 80-year-old, who, according to media reports, will announce his candidacy for a second term next week, drew a line from the current decision of the Supreme Court on the historic verdict from June last year, which overturned abortion rights in the United States. Since then, 13 of the 50 states have banned abortion.

While reactions from Biden’s Democrats and pro-Biden media filled social media, the opposing side remained conspicuously silent. Powerful Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives, prefer to focus on the current dispute with Biden over raising the debt ceiling.

A weak spot for Republicans

Texas Senator and outspoken anti-abortion activist Ted Cruz attacked the president on Twitter over the rising numbers of illegal immigrants on the southern border. And the general silence on Truth Social, Donald Trump’s platform, also spoke volumes. Two weeks ago, the ex-president and his supporters accused a New York court of political corruption after the indictment against Trump, but on Friday they refrained from attacking the Supreme Court and its judges.

“The abortion issue has terrified Republicans. They behave like gazelles in the Serengeti, noticing lions near them and – frozen – waiting for the next movement. Knowing full well that some of them will believe in it. It doesn’t matter which way they jump off,” writes conservative commentator Rich Lowry.

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Radical opponents of abortion

A vulnerability that Biden and his party have exploited at every opportunity since the Roe vs. Wade ruling. In autumn, among other things, a heavy exchange of blows is imminent in Ohio. There, the Democrats want to write abortion rights into the state constitution. Other states have already taken such steps. In August of last year, Kansas established this right. Legislators also tightened guarantees in Michigan, California, Kentucky, Montana and Vermont.

Undoubtedly, the topic also had an impact on the outcome of the midterm elections last November, from which Trump’s Republicans, despite expectations, were unable to draw a great triumph. No wonder, 63 percent of voters said at the time that abortion must remain legal. Tactically clever, the Democrats combined the elections in some states with votes on this question – and won.

The image of the Supreme Court had suffered

And Biden and his camp are making sure the issue stays high on the agenda. In early April, a liberal judge in the swing state of Wisconsin won the race for a seat on the local Supreme Court. Janet Protasiewicz campaigned against the abortion ban that the state reinstated after the Roe vs. Wade verdict.

The race for the judiciary posts in Milwaukee was the most expensive in American history, with donations equivalent to 25 million euros. Some commentators called the election “the most important election of 2023”. Many observers see the fact that in the end there is now a majority of four liberal judges facing three conservative judges as the opening chapter for the presidential election in November 2024. Four years earlier, Biden had narrowly won in the state.

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Friday’s verdict came just before a deadline the court had set itself. How many of the judges voted to keep access to the abortion pill is unknown. Only two judges publicly confessed that they had voted against. Which means at least one of Trump’s conservative judges must have voted in favor of continued access. Commentators saw this as a possible response to the deterioration in the Supreme Court’s image since the June 2022 abortion decision suffered immensely because of accusations of increasing politicization.

Under Trump, the Supreme Court has moved significantly to the right. There are only three female judges who are considered liberal. They are opposed by six arch-conservative judges, some of whom are very religious, and who have repeatedly ruled in the interests of religious plaintiffs. In the past few days, demonstrators had once again gathered in front of the Supreme Court across from the Capitol.

However, Friday’s decision is only temporary. Access to mifepristone is now considered secured until early 2024. The drug is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. In the coming months, however, an appeals court in New Orleans must continue to hear the question of whether and how women can get the morning-after pill. The dispute may eventually end up before the Supreme Court again.

It was triggered by a judge appointed by Trump in Texas. At the beginning of April, he had ruled that mifepristone was not safe and endangered women’s health. An assessment that physicians clearly rejected with an overwhelming majority and with reference to statistics. Biden’s government also warned that it would set a dangerous precedent for judges to suddenly decide on drug approvals, which is one of the reasons why it took the issue to the Supreme Court.