Biden Says “Abortion” Exactly Once in First State of the Union Since Downfall of Roe v. Wade
Abortion is still under attack. It deserved a little bit more attention from the president.
President Joe Biden said the word “abortion” exactly once during the State of the Union Tuesday, the first since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Democrats have made abortion rights a key issue since the nationwide right to the procedure was rolled back last summer. Abortion rights helped deliver the party historic wins during the 2022 midterm elections.
But during his speech, Biden took almost an hour to mention the fight for abortion rights. And when he did, he spent four sentences on the topic, using the actual word “abortion” only once.
Reproductive rights activists and writers were outraged, slamming the president for glossing over the issue and failing to call out the attacks on abortion rights and access.
“This is it? Half of the country has been stripped of their right [to] be seen as a full human being and we get four sentences?” writer Jessica Valenti demanded on Twitter.
Making things even worse, one of first lady Jill Biden’s guests was a woman who nearly died after being denied an abortion under Texas law. Biden did not highlight her story, as he did with some of the other guests at the State of the Union.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, abortion rights and access have been under all-out attack from Republicans. States have cracked down on the procedure, even trying to circumvent the will of the people, and are trying to get medication abortion banned as well. Meanwhile, lawmakers at the federal level have tried to pass laws banning abortion.
The least Biden could have done is explicitly acknowledge any of that.