Biden campaign attack ad blames Trump for Dobbs abortion decision

President Biden’s presidential campaign released a new attack ad on Sunday attempting to blame former President Donald Trump for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as the Biden-Harris ticket seeks to make the abortion issue front and center. 

The ad features Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB/GYN and mother of three in Dallas who says she was forced to leave the state of Texas to get an abortion after at a “routine ultrasound” she learned “that the fetus would have a fatal condition” and “that there was absolutely no chance of survival.” 

“Having this beautiful, messy, chaotic, but wonderful family, it’s the joy of my life,” she says. “I never thought that I would need an abortion for a planned pregnancy. But I did. Two years ago, I became pregnant with a baby I desperately wanted,” Dennard says. “In Texas, you are forced to carry that pregnancy. And that is because of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade. The choice was completely taken away. I was to continue my pregnancy, putting my life at risk. It’s every woman’s worst nightmare, and it was absolutely unbearable. We need leaders that will protect our rights, and not take them away. And that’s Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.” 

The ad ends with two still images of Biden and then Biden and Harris, with the president voicing over, “I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message.” The Biden campaign captioned the ad on X, writing, “Because of Donald Trump, Dr. Austin Dennard was forced to flee Texas to get the heath care she needed to save her life. It’s simply outrageous.” 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JANUARY 22, 1973, SUPREME COURT ISSUES LANDMARK ROE V. WADE DECISION

Monday marks the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision on Roe v Wade. 

The landmark decision was overturned in June 2022 – during Biden’s term – in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. 

Trump, who claimed responsibility for the overturning of Roe after adding conservative justices to the court during his administration, has described himself as the most “pro-life president” but took some criticism from conservatives in September after criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s six-week ban. 

Trump vowed to come to a compromise on how long into pregnancy to ban abortion outright, potentially around 15 weeks, and condemned late-term abortions. 

The vice president is expected to deliver remarks in Big Bend, Wisconsin, on Monday, as part of her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, and per Harris’ office, will speak about how she “will also hold extremists accountable for proposing a national abortion ban, call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe, and outline steps the Administration is taking to protect access to health care.” Biden, meanwhile, will convene the fourth meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, “where agencies will announce new actions to protect access to reproductive health care,” the White House said. 

PRO-LIFE VOTERS REVEAL HOW THEY REALLY FEEL ABOUT TRUMP’S STANCE ON ABORTION

In a statement released by the White House on Monday, Biden said he and Vice President Kamala Harris “are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom against Republicans officials’ dangerous, extreme, and out-of-touch agenda. 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.” 

“Fifty-one years ago today, the Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to make deeply personal decisions with her doctor—free from the interference of politicians,” Biden said. “Then, a year and a half ago, the Court made the extreme decision to overturn Roe and take away a constitutional right. As a result, tens of millions of women now live in states with extreme and dangerous abortion bans. Because of Republican elected officials, women’s health and lives are at risk. In states across the country, women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and made to travel hundreds of miles for health care.”

“Even as Americans—from Ohio to Kentucky to Michigan to Kansas to California—have resoundingly rejected attempts to limit reproductive freedom, Republican elected officials continue to push for a national ban and devastating new restrictions across the country,” the statement added.  

Harris on X also wrote, “We trust women to make decisions about their own body and their own future.”