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The Supreme Court’s landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade set off a torrent of emotions that upended the 2022 midterm elections. Two years later, abortion rights remain a hot-button issue in the 2024 election.
Both state and national polls indicate that abortion is likely to be a top issue for President Joe Biden, but that alone may not be enough to save him.
Take Arizona. Advocates there want to put a measure before voters this November that would guarantee the right to abortion until the fetus is viable, which means between 22 and 25 weeks into pregnancy. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll found that 65% of Arizonans would vote in favor of such a ballot measure. In the same poll, Biden still trails former President Donald Trump among Arizona voters, 47% to 52%.
There is also confusion on the issue, which could undermine Biden’s advantage.
Nearly one in five voters (17%) in six key battleground states incorrectly blamed Biden for the end of abortion rights nationwide, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. The Supreme Court was able to overturn Roe thanks to three justices appointed by Trump, who has repeatedly loudly bragged about killing Roe.
Here’s a guide to where Biden and Trump stand on the issue.
Vice President Kamala Harris has led the Biden campaign’s efforts to highlight abortion rights during the campaign.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
What does Joe Biden think about abortion rights?
Biden has repeatedly promised to reinstate Roe, which won’t be easy. Biden needs Democrats to win back the three branches of government again. To do that, Biden needs to be reelected, Democrats need to hold onto the Senate, and take back the House of Representatives. Given that some of the most closely watched races are taking place in states that Trump won in 2020, political observers are now predicting that Republicans will take back the House.
Even with control of Congress, it probably wouldn’t be enough. The Senate filibuster requires a de facto majority of 60 votes to pass legislation enshrining nationwide abortion rights protections. It’s unclear how Democrats could gain the nine seats needed for a filibuster-breaking majority. Democrats could modify or completely eliminate the filibuster, but such efforts have failed in the past. Eliminating the filibuster would also open the door for Republicans to pass a nationwide abortion ban in the future.
Some legal experts question whether Congress has the authority to guarantee a right to an abortion, and anti-abortion rights groups would almost certainly sue if Democrats passed such a law.
There are other ways Biden could affect abortion access if he remains in power. His administration has defended access to the abortion drug mifepristone all the way to the Supreme Court. Under Biden’s direction, the Department of Defense will reimburse military personnel who travel abroad for abortions if they can’t get them in their home area.
The Biden administration is also likely to take on Republican-led states that seek to further restrict abortion rights. For example, President Biden and the Justice Department have vowed to protect a woman’s right to travel between state lines to access an abortion.
In 2020, Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend an anti-abortion March for Life rally.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
What does Donald Trump think about abortion rights?
There’s no doubt that President Trump has done more to restrict access to abortion in the United States than any other president, yet he has recently tried to avoid the topic altogether, saying the issue should be left to individual states.
“Each state will decide, either by vote or by legislation or both, and whatever they decide, that will become the law of the land,” Trump said in a recent video. “In this case, it’s the law of the states.”
Though Trump did not mention the role of state supreme courts, the issue came to a head just days after Trump’s abortion remarks when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 near-total abortion ban was enforceable. Trump and many Republicans said Arizona had gone too far in the furor that followed the ruling. (Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs eventually signed a repeal of the territorial-era ban into law.)
Trump has not been very clear about what else he thinks about the issue. He has repeatedly promised to offer a position on mifepristone but has yet to deliver, and he has not said how he would vote as a Floridian on a constitutional amendment that would allow abortion until the fetus is viable or “if the patient’s health care provider determines that it is necessary to protect the patient’s health.”
Trump’s allies are seeking to go even further. Project 2025, an informal partnership of right-wing think tanks, has put together an ambitious set of plans to restrict abortion rights if Trump wins in November. The Trump campaign has distanced itself from the group, but many of the plan’s architects held key positions in the Trump administration. The plans call for a future Republican president to reverse FDA approval of mifepristone and take action to restrict “mail-in abortions.”