Abortion rights advocates were stunned by President Joe Biden’s vague and sometimes inappropriate messages on abortion access during Thursday night’s debate, especially when he refused to scold the former president. Donald Trump’s False Claims that the Democrats are in favor of killing babies.
Director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado, Dr. “The debate was a disaster,” Warren Hearn said. “It’s going to be hard to recover from.”
The debate was supposed to be a layup for people who support abortion rights. Presumptive Republican nominee Trump has said he nominated three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court while in office from 2017 to 2021. the constitutional right to abortion was abolished In 2022, states are responsible for deciding at what stage women can terminate their pregnancies.
But Biden did little to challenge his opponent on the issue during Thursday’s rally. In Roe v. He said the decision to cancel the fight against Wade was “a terrible thing,” but then changed the subject. nursing student who was killed earlier this year on the University of Georgia campus — an incident that had nothing to do with abortion.
Julie Burkhart, co-founder of the Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, which provides abortions, said Biden’s poor showing on the issue has caused “frustration, alarm and anxiety” among her colleagues. He said he fears a second Trump presidency could lead to a national abortion ban.
“This presidential election is, I think, the most important election I will ever witness in my lifetime,” Burkhart said.
Opponents of abortion used to say the same thing. They hope a second Trump presidency will lead to “reasonable measures” to make sure “tax dollars are not used to pay for abortions,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.
The polarizing views come as the nation continues to grapple with the issue of abortion care. This was noted last week It is the second anniversary of the Supreme Court‘The decision to overturn Roe. According to a recent report Request from KFFA health research and policy group says 1 in 10 women say abortion rights are the most important issue that determines their vote.
“Abortion rights advocates need to make sure the public understands what’s at stake for women’s health and women’s rights,” Hearn said. “It’s a dead end.”
Abortion rights advocates say they will stick to their campaign message. They are trying to distract voters from Biden’s poor performance by focusing on his administration’s overall goals and decisions about who should lead influential health care agencies.
“What direction will the heads of these institutions take?” Will they defend attacks on abortion access, or will they promulgate regulations that make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to access care?’ said Michelle Velasquez, chief strategy officer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.
“The presidency is more than one person,” Velasquez said.
Leyla Abulfazli, director of national abortion strategy at the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, said the group will continue to explain the impact of ongoing decisions, such as the Supreme Court’s overruling. Idaho’s abortion ban conflicts with federal law sets standards for emergency patients, including women whose pregnancies are life-threatening.
“My struggle is to explain to people what these ephemeral concepts and laws really mean,” Abulfazli said. “Pregnancy care is under attack, just like everywhere else. People need to understand this.”
Aside from the presidential election, four states have abortion-rights protections on the November ballot: Colorado, Florida, Maryland and South Dakota.
“We’re all holding our breath until November,” said Candace Dye, owner of Women’s World Medical Center in Fort Pierce, Florida, a clinic that provides abortions. “I hope and pray that this amendment passes.”