President Joe Biden and his campaign staff traveled to Tampa, Florida on Tuesday to publicly criticize the state’s upcoming abortion ban, hoping to gin up support among the Democratic base and possibly sway voters in the Sunshine State.
Starting May 1st, Florida will ban abortion after six weeks. Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court decided it would permit a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution in November, and that it would permanently uphold the state’s 15-week abortion ban.
Abortion rights are a staple rallying point among Democratic voters, especially since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said Biden will be laying out “the stakes of this election for reproductive freedom across the entire country” in his speech today.
Biden blames President Trump for Florida's six-week abortion ban:
"Next week, one of the nation's most extreme anti-abortion law will take effect here in Florida. There's one person responsible for this nightmare. Donald Trump.”
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 23, 2024
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On May 1, Florida’s more extreme abortion ban preventing women from accessing care before many even know they are pregnant will go into effect.
Tune in as I give remarks in Tampa about the stakes of reproductive freedom across our country: https://t.co/3rqFDFXfpZ
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 23, 2024
Another reason behind Biden’s Florida visit is his hope to win the state in the November election, despite the fact that it has become a Republican stronghold since COVID-19. While no Democratic candidate has won the state since 2012, the Biden campaign believes abortion is enough of a wedge issue to put it back in play.
“We’ve got staff on the ground, you’ve seen our investments begin to pop up in the state of Florida,” Biden campaign comms director Michael Tyler told the press. “It is one of many pathways that we have to 270 electoral votes, and we’re going to take it very, very seriously.”
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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