Some left-wing activists are not satisfied with how President Joe Biden handled the issue of abortion during his State of the Union address last week, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday.
While 81-year-old Biden, a self-professed Catholic, called for the restoration of Roe v. Wade — a now-defunct 1973 Supreme Court decision that had invented a Constitutional right to abortion for 50 years — he notably departed from prepared remarks and left out the word “abortion,” instead opting for “reproductive freedom” or “freedom to choose.”
The word “abortion” was used once in Biden’s prepared remarks when he introduced Kate Cox, first lady Jill Biden’s State of the Union guest and a Texas woman who left the state to have her disabled baby aborted. While the remarks said, “Because Texas law banned abortion,” Biden said, “Because Texas law banned her ability to act,” according to the report.
“By not saying the word ‘abortion,’ it implies that it’s taboo or something to be ashamed of,” executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio Kellie Copeland told the AP. “It’s stigmatizing and harmful. The president should do better.”
Amy Hanstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, which manages abortion clinics in Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Virginia, told the outlet there was an “uproar” across the organization because of how Biden handled the issue.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally to Restore Roe at Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Virginia, on January 23, 2024. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“Abortion is what we provide and what people are being denied,” Miller said. “People don’t call us for a reproductive freedom appointment. They don’t ask for a bodily autonomy visit or a choice procedure. They call for abortion care, and abortion is a professional medical term for the health care we provide. Avoiding the word just shows the power of the historical stigma around abortion.”
The Biden campaign told the outlet that their strategy is to let the president show how his views on the issue have changed over the years and to highlight how he deals with “what can be an uncomfortable topic,” according to the report.
“Donald Trump on the other hand has repeatedly used disgusting and derogatory language when referring to women, and he will institute a national abortion ban,” said Lauren Hitt, spokesperson for the Biden campaign. “The choice in this election is incredibly clear.”
Many pro-abortion activists want to see Biden “offer more full-throated support” for the killing of the unborn and “sense discomfort in his approach to speaking on the topic,” the report continues.
“Abortion could very well be the issue that the election hinges on,” Nourbese Flint, president of the national abortion justice group All∗ Above All Action Fund. “If President Biden wants to speak to the American electorate, whatever their faith, he should use his bully pulpit to be bold on abortion access.”
Biden, who has been endorsed by major pro-abortion organizations, has largely given the issue of abortion over to Vice President Kamala Harris going into the 2024 presidential race. Harris, whom Biden thanked for her work on the issue, has recently embarked on a multi-state abortion tour.
Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at State Innovation Exchange, called Harris a “champion for abortion rights,” but said she wants to see a stronger pro-abortion stance from Biden.
President Joe Biden speaks about the importance of electing Democrats who want to promote abortion, during an event hosted by the Democratic National Committee at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“We also need the president to be vocal on this issue,” Driver said.
This is not the first time left-leaning media and abortion activists have accused Biden of not being pro-abortion enough.
In February, both the The Nation and Slate published articles slamming Biden for saying he supports Roe but does not want “abortion on demand” as a practicing Catholic.
“Biden’s history suggests that the pro-choice position is one he came to tardily and half-heartedly in order to stay viable as a political figure in the Democratic Party,” Jeet Heer wrote in an article titled “Biden’s Abortion Ambivalence Is Self-Defeating.”
RELATED: Decoding Democrat Joe Biden’s 2024 Abortion Playbook
Despite these criticisms, the Biden administration has arguably become the most pro-abortion administration in U.S. history, working through executive orders, rule-making, and guidance from unelected government bureaucrats, and various legal challenges to install its abortion-on-demand agenda around the country and the world.
Furthermore, killing the unborn is Biden’s day-one, number-one priority if he is reelected, his staff has said — a strategy designed to bludgeon Republicans and appeal to a wide swath of women and young voters accustomed to 50 years of the “right” to abortion invented under Roe.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.