Abortion rights supporters were stunned by President Joe Biden’s vague and sometimes inconsistent messaging on abortion access during Thursday night’s debate, particularly when he refused to refute the false claims of former President Donald Trump that Democrats favored killing babies.
“The debate was a disaster,” said Dr. Warren Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado. “It’s going to be hard to recover from.”
The debate should have been a time-lapse for abortion rights supporters. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, touted the fact that he appointed three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court while he was in office from 2017 to 2021. As a result, the constitutional right to abortion was struck down in 2022, leaving states to decide whether and at what stage to allow women to terminate a pregnancy.
But Biden did little to contradict his opponent on that issue during Thursday’s showdown. He said the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was a ‘terrible thing,’ but then changed the subject to talk about a nursing student who was murdered earlier this year on the University of Georgia campus — an incident that had nothing to do with with abortion.
Julie Burkhart, co-owner of the Hope Clinic, which performs abortions in Granite City, Illinois, said Biden’s weak performance on the issue has created a sense of “discouragement, concern and worry” among her colleagues. She said she fears a second Trump presidency could lead to a national abortion ban.
“This presidential election, I think, is the most crucial election I’ve ever been to in my life,” Burkhart said.
Opponents of abortion have made the same point. They hope a second Trump presidency will lead to “reasonable steps” to ensure that “taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortion,” said Carol Tobias, chair of the National Right to Life Committee.
These divergent opinions come as the country continues to grapple with the issue of abortion. Last week marked the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. According to a recent survey by KFF, a health research and policy group, one in ten women say abortion rights are the most important issue determining their vote.
“Abortion rights advocates must ensure that the public understands the issues surrounding women’s health and rights,” said Ms. Hern. “The situation is desperate. »
Abortion rights advocates say they will stick to their message heading into the election. They are trying to distract voters from Biden’s poor performance by focusing on the broader goals of his administration and decisions about who should lead influential health agencies.
“Where are these agency leaders going to go? Are they going to defend attacks on abortion access, or are they going to enact rules that make it harder or even impossible for people to get care?” said Michelle Velasquez, chief strategy officer at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.
“The presidency is more than just one person,” Velasquez said.
Leila Abolfazli, director of national abortion strategy at the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, said the group will continue to explain the impact of pending decisions, such as the Supreme Court’s overturning of a ruling on abortion. question of whether Idaho’s abortion ban conflicts with a federal law that sets standards for emergency room patients, including women whose pregnancies are life-threatening.
“My challenge is explaining to people what these ephemeral concepts and laws actually mean in everyday life,” Abolfazli said. “Pregnancy care is under attack in general. That’s what people need to be aware of.”
Beyond the presidential election, four states have amendments on the November ballot that would aim to preserve abortion rights: Colorado, Florida, Maryland and South Dakota.
“We’re all holding our breath until November,” said Candace Dye, owner of A Woman’s World Medical Center in Fort Pierce, Florida, a clinic that performs abortions. “I hope and pray that this amendment passes.”
News Source : www.nbcnews.com
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