Democrats Keep Winning Elections on Abortion Rights. Can the Issue Save Biden?

Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to further emphasize protecting abortion rights as a way to boost his sagging poll numbers after the issue proved yet again to be a winning electoral issue for the party.

Tuesday’s election results reinforced that conclusion as voters rejected GOP candidates with anti-abortion stances in Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and enshrined reproductive rights in Ohio’s constitution. It continues a consistent pattern of Democrats successfully running on the abortion issue across the country following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year.

For Democrats who are worried about polls showing Biden falling behind Donald Trump, his likely 2024 GOP rival, one year out from the presidential election, they now see the abortion issue as his clearest path to turning his fortunes around.

“Both the president and the vice president should have this on their agenda as priorities because of the fact that it's become such a priority for the people in this country,” said Democrat Nickie Antonio, the state Senate minority leader in Ohio, where voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional right to abortion on Tuesday. “There's a radical agenda to totally ban abortion, and that conversation hasn't stopped.”

Some Democrats say the issue needs to be front and center in the 2024 election – on close or equal footing with the economy, where Biden has focused much of his message in recent months.

“Yes, people care about the economy but they also care about their freedoms and not having their personal rights violated,” one Democratic strategist said. “Every recent election has proven that.”

It’s unclear whether Biden will be able to ride the backlash to the overturning of a constitutional right to an abortion the same way his fellow Democrats have been able to. Ahead of Democrats’ successful election night, a new string of polls re-emphasized that Biden has specific weaknesses, with an approval rating that remains well under water and a large slice of the electorate that is skeptical the 80-year-old president is up for a second term. 

A New York Times/Siena College poll found Biden trailing Trump in five critical swing states one year out from Election Day, while surveys from The Messenger/Harris, CNN and CBS News show Trump ahead nationally in hypothetical head-to-head matchups. 

But the Times/Siena survey also showed that abortion was Biden’s strongest issue over Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to reverse Roe v. Wade. 

Biden has announced several executive orders and a presidential memorandum to protect access to reproductive health care while in office. But Vice President Kamala Harris has the administration’s lead messenger on the issue, which does not naturally reside in Biden’s wheelhouse. 

The president’s position has evolved on abortion rights over the course of several decades. Biden, a devout Catholic, previously opposed federal funding for abortion services. And after saying in 1974 that the Roe v. Wade ruling went “too far,” he is now making the pitch to voters that it should be codified into law. 

“My Administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday night responding to results in Ohio.

Antonio said Biden's evolution is a product of both the times and his personal journey, and that he is speaking out on the issue effectively now.

“He is saying that he wants the legislature and Congress to enshrine the protections of Roe in federal law once for all so I feel that he is definitely a champion,” she said.

Biden’s team was also going out of their way Wednesday to highlight Trump’s stance on abortion, sharing clips on social media of the former president saying that he “got rid of Roe v. Wade” and that “there has to be some sort of punishment” for women who get abortions. 

“If folks think Donald Trump is going to be able to run away from abortion, allow me to introduce you to Donald Trump's own words,” Ammar Moussa, a Biden campaign spokesperson, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Democrats hope the abortion issue will not only help drive the party’s base to the polls next year, but will help them win over independents and Republicans. 

“Abortion rights cuts across party lines – the 57% of people who voted for a constitutional protection for abortion in Ohio last night obviously weren’t all Democrats,” said Democratic strategist Christy Setzer.