Biden v. Texas

WASHINGTON — With reproductive rights and border security emerging as some of the top issues in the 2024 presidential election, the White House is picking more and more legal fights with Texas and its Republican governor, Greg Abbott.

In a stark acknowledgement of the seething animosity between one state and the federal government, Abbott has bluntly said: “Biden is destroying America. Texas is trying to save it.”

The duel gives both sides a powerful foil as they seek to motivate voters ahead of the November elections: Republicans are aiming to paint President Joe Biden as a boogeyman responsible for record-high illegal crossings at the southern border, while Democrats are trying to cast the GOP as a party intent on taking away abortion rights and refusing to accept any meaningful solutions on the border in order to keep the issue alive and score political points.

Over the coming months, the Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Biden administration to protect broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone after anti-abortion groups and doctors in Texas challenged its legality following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Texas can ban emergency abortions even though the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says a federal statute takes priority over state laws prohibiting the procedure.

Also on Tuesday, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to allow federal Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a controversial effort by the state to prevent illegal border crossings.

The Department of Justice gave Texas until Wednesday to say it would not enforce the