Despite numerous polls showing a faltering economy and skyrocketing inflation as top voter concerns, President Biden promised Tuesday that should the Democratic Party take control of both the House and Senate, his top legislative priority after the midterms will be codifying a national right to abortion.
“Here is the promise I make to you and the American people,” Biden said during remarks at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. “The first bill I’ll send to Congress is to codify Roe v. Wade.”
The move is intended to galvanize support among Democratic and independent women as the president’s polling numbers slump ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to National Review.
The bill the president pledges to sign is referred to as H.R. 3755, which supporters dub the “Women’s Health Protection” Act. It would go well beyond Roe by striking down nearly every pro-life law in all 50 states, including health regulations designed to protect women’s reproductive health, parental consent or notification laws, and laws restricting late-term abortions after the point of viability if an abortionist believes pregnancy would harm the “health” of the mother.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life. “President Biden’s desperate attempt to sway voters by pushing painful abortions is clear evidence of how out of touch he is,” Mancini says. “Ninety percent of Americans reject Biden’s view that abortion should be legal up until birth for any reason–paid for by taxpayers.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, agrees.
“Only 8% of Americans agree with Stacey Abrams, Raphael Warnock, Mark Kelly, Katie Hobbs, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and other Democratic candidates who support unlimited abortion, paid for by taxpayers, up to the moment of birth,” Dannenfelser said. “Doubling down on an extreme agenda of abortion on demand until birth won’t stop Democrats from losing Congress, even with the abortion industry spending record sums to elect them.”
“It’s a failing message for Democrats. People in America do not want abortion up to the point of birth,” Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) told “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Tuesday. The rising cost of living is the No. 1 issue he hears while traveling through his home state, he said, adding, “The second issue has got to be crime, and that starts on the southern border. We have fentanyl coming across the border, criminals coming across the border, crime waves across our state.”
Democrats’ attempt to distract from economic fears by appealing to cultural issues such as abortion hasn’t borne fruit thus far, though, especially among the independent women who should be most receptive to the messaging. The Biden administration has suffered a dramatic shift in popularity amongst politically unaffiliated women in recent weeks, going from a 14-point advantage in September to an 18-point deficit in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
The trend away from those who embrace an extreme, no-limits stance favoring abortion-on-demand seemed to hold nationwide, especially in swing states. “We looked at 11 states where there are Republican governors who have signed some form of meaningful pro-life legislation,” such as a heartbeat bill, FRC Action Vice President Brent Keilen told Perkins. “In all 11, those Republican governors are up in the polling.”
The president’s insistence on discussing abortion, even as surveys reveal the strategy has backfired, indicate something deeper may be afoot, Perkins and Hice agreed.
While Americans worry about tight home budgets and surging home heating costs, the Biden administration’s “focus is on the issue of abortion, on transgenderism,” said Perkins, Family Research Council president. “It’s frankly mind-boggling. If I didn’t think that there was some kind of demonic agenda here, it would be hard to explain.”
