Biden, Harris to mark Roe anniversary with abortion-focused rally in Virginia

The Biden campaign is planning an aggressive effort to highlight the stakes of the 2024 election for abortion access around what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

President Biden and Vice President Harris will headline a rally in Virginia on Wednesday to discuss the threat Republicans would pose to abortion rights if they win back the White House. The rally comes after Virginia Democrats secured majorities in the state Legislature largely because of the issue of abortion.

They team also plans to launch a new paid media campaign aimed at women and swing voters in battleground states focusing on the impact abortion bans nationwide have had on women and health care providers following the end of Roe.

“Donald Trump is the reason that more than 1 in 3 American women of reproductive age don’t have the freedom to make their own health care decisions,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “Now, he and MAGA Republicans are running to go even further if they retake the White House.”

“Trump directly paved the way for Republican extremists across the country to enact draconian bans that are hurting women and threatening doctors,” she continued. “In 2024, a vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a vote to restore Roe, and a vote for Donald Trump is a vote to ban abortion across the country.”

Abortion is set to be a pivotal issue in the 2024 election after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending federal protections and paving the way for numerous Republican-led states to pass restrictions on abortion access.

Democrats have successfully campaigned on protecting abortion access in the nearly two years since, winning gubernatorial and state legislative races, as well as passing ballot measures to guarantee access.

The Biden campaign is hoping to deploy a similar strategy, warning frequently that a Republican in the White House could pass a national abortion ban.

Former President Trump, the leading candidate for the GOP nomination, has repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would sign legislation restricting abortion. But, he has also on numerous occasions said he deserves the credit for ending Roe, citing his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices.