Biden will hammer Trump over abortion bans in Florida speech

In a national address scheduled in Tampa today, President Joe Biden is poised to scrutinize a new restrictive abortion law in Florida, which is set to take effect next week, framing it as a critical issue for the upcoming election. Biden’s speech comes amid an intensifying debate over reproductive rights.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

According to a memo shared with The Advocate on the impacts of Republican abortion bans by Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, the new law will dramatically constrict reproductive health care throughout the Southeast, affecting states beyond Florida’s borders, including Georgia and North Carolina, where bans spurred by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 are already in place.

“Many women in the Southeast desperately in need of care will have to drive for a day or more to reach the closest clinic,” Chavez Rodriguez detailed in the memo. The situation could place an unprecedented strain on providers who are already under pressure serving women from states where abortion is banned.

Chavez Rodriguez’s memo starkly captures the Trump administration’s role in the current landscape: “[Donald] Trump has doubled down on taking credit for these extreme state abortion bans, bragging that he ‘broke Roe,’” she said, pointing to an appearance the former president made on April 12.

Trump’s position suggests that these measures are “working the way it’s supposed to,” despite widespread accounts of their grievous consequences for women’s health and personal autonomy.

Chavez Rodriguez emphasized the disconnect between these policies and public sentiment: “These attacks on women’s freedoms put Trump far out of step with the American people,” she wrote.

The memo underscores that reproductive freedom has surged as a top issue for voters in battleground states, as evidenced in Arizona, Michigan, and even Florida, where the majority oppose the restrictive laws.

Chavez Rodriguez’s memo further warns of a broader strategy to ban abortion nationwide should Trump return to the presidency, a move that she suggests is contrary to the will of the majority.

Biden’s Tampa remarks are expected to strike a chord with voters in key battleground states.

“Bottom line: When President Biden speaks out against attacks on reproductive freedom across the country and yet another extreme Trump abortion ban taking effect in Florida, it will resonate with voters across every battleground state,” Chavez Rodriguez wrote.

This speech aims to energize voters who, as per Chavez Rodriguez, “do not want Trump and MAGA Republicans continuing to dismantle their fundamental freedoms.” The memo predicts a robust response from voters come November, reflecting a persistent trend of rejecting Trump-endorsed abortion restrictions at the ballot box.