The Biden campaign is attempting to tie former President Donald Trump to state abortion bans in a new ad as a part of a broader campaign s...
The Biden campaign is attempting to tie former President Donald Trump to state abortion bans in a new ad as a part of a broader campaign strategy to hammer the abortion issue as the 2024 race heats up.
On Sunday, the Biden campaign debuted a new spot titled “Forced,” which features Dr. Austin Dennard, a Dallas OBGYN and mother of three, who obtained an abortion out of state for an unborn child she says had a fetal condition with “absolutely no chance of survival.”
“In Texas, you are forced to carry that pregnancy, and that is because of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade,” Dennard says in the 60-second video.
“I was to continue my pregnancy, putting my life at risk,” she adds.
“We need leaders who will protect our rights and not take them away, and that’s Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Dennard says.
Dennard’s baby was reportedly diagnosed at 11 weeks with anencephaly, a condition where a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull.
Dennard is one of several women suing Texas to clarify the “medical emergency” exception to the state’s abortion ban.
She testified in July that her pregnancy would have put her at “significant risk,” but that she did not think she would be granted an abortion under the exception because she was not “critically ill.”
“I was not hemorrhaging, I was not septic. I was pregnant with a lethal anomaly, and I did not believe that I would be able to receive an abortion in my state at that time for the sole purpose of my lethal anomaly,” she said at the time.
It is not clear what specific health risks the pregnancy posed to Dennard.
Texas had a six-week abortion ban that was triggered into effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022. The law bans all abortions after six weeks, except those performed to protect the life of the mother.
The new Biden ad will run for a week in seven battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The campaign hopes to target suburban women and young voters, so the ad will run on programs and channels known to attract women, including the season premiere of “The Bachelor” and HGTV, TLC, Bravo, Hallmark, and the Food Network. It will also run during Sunday’s NFL conference championship games.
The ad’s release comes around the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade’s decision in 1973.
Trump has vaunted Roe vs. Wade’s demise on the campaign trail, emphasizing that he appointed the justices that gave the court the conservative majority needed to overturn it.
“For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I’m proud to have done it,” the former president said during a recent Fox News town hall.
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