Texas abortion laws front and center in Biden’s White House bid

Two Texas women who were forced to leave the state to terminate non-viable pregnancies will be highlights of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign in the coming days, including in next week’s State of the Union address.

A minute-long ad narrated by Texas OB-GYN Dr. Austin Dennard came out early this week to coincide with the 51st anniversary of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade decision, which made the right to an abortion the law of the land. A Supreme Court packed by celebrity tax fraud Donald Trump during his presidency overthrew that law in June 2022, allowing many states to enact strict bans on abortion — even when the mother’s life is in danger.

Dennard had to leave Texas for an abortion when what would have been her fourth child was diagnosed with a condition that was not survivable outside the womb and threatened the health of the mother, according to online news site The Hill. She tells her story in a Biden campaign add airing on several networks including during NFL conference playoff games this weekend.

“In Texas, you are forced to carry that pregnancy and that is because of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade,” Dennard says in the nationally televised ad. “The choice was completely taken away. I was to continue my pregnancy, putting my life at risk.”

First Lady Jill Biden has also invited Texan Kate Cox as her guest to the State of the Union address to further highlight the medical pitfalls of restrictive state laws after Roe v. Wade was cast out.

Cox sued the State of Texas last year to gain the legal right to an abortion of a fetus that was diagnosed at 20 weeks as prone to miscarriage or dying immediately after or within a week of birth. Giving birth also was determined by medical professionals to harm Cox’s ability to have another child, but the courts denied the plea and Cox left the state for the procedure.

Abortion issue has emerged as a key issue in November’s election, especially in battleground states. Trump ran his first successful presidential bid with the promise of overturning Roe v. Wade by appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court. He used the issue to court anti-abortion evangelical Christians and Catholics, even while mocking some of their other deep-held beliefs.

In the wake of the high court’s decision, Republicans didn’t do as well as expected in U.S. Senate and House races, Trump blamed them and their states for taking abortion bans too far.

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This article appears in Jan 24 – Feb 6, 2024.