Biden pledges to protect abortion rights in an ad on the second anniversary of the fall of Roe

Joe Biden marked the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade with a video in which he vows to restore the right to abortion and “protect American freedom” if he is re-elected.

The 45-second video, released two years to the day since the court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned nearly half a century of guaranteed federal abortion rights, reflects the central role abortion took in Biden’s presidential campaign.

The Vice President, Kamala Harris, has recently given press interviews about abortion, and on Monday several groups — including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Freedom for All — announced a $100 million effort. Abortion now access campaign in several states.

In Biden’s video, the president places the responsibility for overturning abortion rights squarely on Donald Trump, quoting him bragging about the decision and taking credit for putting three conservative justices on the court.

“This is what Donald Trump says about your freedom: ‘After fifty years of failure, with no one even coming close, I was able to kill Roe v Wade,’” Biden said, quoting a statement Trump made last year.

“Two years ago, Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court justices helped overturn Roe v Wade,” Biden continued. “Decades of progress have fallen apart just because the last guy got four years in the White House.”

In a clear statement of intent that reproductive rights would be at the forefront of his re-election message, Biden warns that reversing Roe v Wade would be “just the beginning” for Trump’s Maga (Make America great again) Republican followers.

“They’re going to try to ban the right to choose nationwide,” he says. ‘After this they come for contraception and IVF.

“We are against extremism. Send me back to the White House and I will fight hard to restore Roe v Wade and protect American freedom.”

The message comes amid polls showing that with continued weak approval ratings for Biden, concerns over reproductive rights represent Democrats’ best hope of retaining the White House in November.

Since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022, ballot measures in several states — including those that tend to vote Republican — have upheld or enshrined abortion rights locally, indicating that the issue has popular resonance, especially among female voters.

Trump has tried to reverse his position in recent months, telling Republicans in Congress at a meeting on Capitol Hill this month that the matter should be left to the states and warning them against pursuing a national ban.