The 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade is forcing the two remaining Republican candidates for president to walk a tightrope on one of the most divisive topics in politics, abortion, with just months until the 2024 general election.
President Joe Biden is commemorating the Monday anniversary with a series of White House and campaign events. The programming is not new — Democrats have relentlessly highlighted abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022.
But the way Republicans respond to the attacks could determine how potent a matter it is in the presidential election.
Conservatives have pressed for the Republican contenders, former President Donald Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, to take a hard line on abortion. But both have urged a shift, at least rhetorically, after the topic was blamed for Republican losses in key congressional races in 2022.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) dropping out of the race on Sunday means all of the staunchest opponents of abortion failed to clinch the GOP nomination — both Trump and Haley have tiptoed around whether they support a federal ban. But they will nevertheless face competing pressures as they signal their “pro-life” credentials ahead of the New Hampshire primary and beyond.
Trump encapsulated that balancing act in a recent Fox News town hall in Iowa.
“You wouldn’t be asking that question, even talking about the issue, because for 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it,” Trump said earlier this month. “But I will say this. You have to win elections. Otherwise, you’re going to be back where you were, and you can’t let that ever happen again.”
Haley’s position is similarly mindful of the general election, with the former South Carolina governor dismissing hypotheticals about a federal abortion ban as unhelpful without a filibuster-proof Republican majority in the Senate. Her campaign emphasizes that Haley is “100% pro-life.”
“Haley signed strong pro-life legislation as South Carolina governor and committed to fighting for federal legislation that saves as many babies and helps as many moms as possible,” Haley campaign spokeswoman AnnMarie Graham-Barnes said in a statement. “In fact, Haley’s pro-life position has been widely praised by conservatives.”
Anti-abortion rights groups, however, are less happy with the remaining candidates on the ballot. In a media call last week, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser told reporters the Republican candidates who did “the best job” related to abortion were “not running anymore,” describing former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as “unmatched.”
But the group will continue to press the eventual nominee to take an unequivocal stance on the matter. Dannenfelser’s colleague, SBA Pro-Life America vice president of communications Emily Erin Davis, insisted the Republican nominee must be “a national defender of life, boldly articulating the pro-life position and contrasting it with the extreme position of Democrats.”
“As president, they must advocate consensus in Congress and work hard to garner the votes necessary to pass protections to serve mothers and save children,” Davis told the Washington Examiner. “Dismissing the task as unrealistic is unacceptable.”
Republican strategist Brad Todd agreed with Dannenfelser and Davis, arguing the GOP has to have the “courage” to ensure Democrats are not “the only ones doing the attacking” with respect to abortion.
“Republicans in this election cycle have got to make sure voters know how extreme most Democrats are on it now,” he said. “The other people who are persuadable in the middle are people who don’t take a hardcore position either direction, and they’re trying mostly to resist people who they see as extremists on the issue.”
To commemorate Monday’s anniversary of Roe, Biden will hold the fourth meeting of his reproductive healthcare task force at the White House as Vice President Kamala Harris hosts the first event of her national tour amplifying the topic in Wisconsin. Biden additionally announced actions aimed at increasing access to contraception, medication abortion, and emergency medical care.
“On this day and every day, Vice President Harris and I are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom against Republicans’ dangerous, extreme, and out-of-touch agenda,” Biden said on Monday. “We stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose, and continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe in federal law once and for all.”
Biden and Harris will also rally supporters in Manassas, Virginia, on Tuesday. The focus comes after their campaign scrutinized Trump over a report the former president is contemplating more abortion restrictions, if he is reelected, by using his executive powers to prohibit the importation of drugs that terminate pregnancies and tools doctors require for the surgical procedure.
“Every day, Donald Trump and his allies are clearly laying out their dangerous plan to inflict more medical chaos and cruelty on women across this country,” Biden campaign spokeswoman Shea Necheles said. “Overturning Roe wasn’t enough. Now, they are running to ban abortion nationwide, with or without Congress. But voters have also been clear: They will not stand for Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ attacks on their reproductive rights. This November will be no different.”
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The Biden campaign is emphasizing its message with a new TV ad featuring Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas obstetrician-gynecologist and mother of three who could not terminate a pregnancy that put her life at risk in her state after the implementation of Gov. Greg Abbott‘s (R-TX) six-week abortion ban, popularly known as a heartbeat bill.
“This ad serves as a sobering reminder to women across the country of the devastating legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency — and a warning of his plans, if elected, to take this anti-abortion crusade even further by using every agency and tool of the federal government to limit women’s access to reproductive healthcare,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said.