Alluding to Trump, Biden calls out Republicans 'bragging' about abortion bans

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In a likely preview of Democratic messaging in the presidential election, President Biden made abortion rights a major focus of his State of the Union address.

"Those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women," Biden said, taking aim at the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling which overturned decades of abortion-rights precedent in 2022.

Alluding to former President Donald Trump as his "predecessor," Biden said, "He's the reason Roe was overturned, and he bragged about it."

Trump, Biden's presumptive Republican rival in November, has indeed bragged about his role in choosing three conservative Supreme Court justices who were instrumental in that decision — a campaign promise Trump had made in 2016.

Biden pointed to Democratic victories following the Dobbs decision, such as ballot initiatives in several states where voters signaled support for abortion rights, warning that opponents of abortion rights "found out" when voters went to the polls in 2022 and 2023, "and they will again in 2024."

Exit polling has shown abortion to be a top issue for many voters in those recent elections, particularly those from key voting blocs for Democrats, such as women, younger voters and voters of color.

Biden also made a push for down-ballot Democrats, promising, that if Americans elect members of Congress that support abortion rights "I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again."

Both Republicans and Democrats have proposed national abortion-related legislation, but currently neither party has the votes to pass either a national ban as some Republicans want or national protections as Biden is