The Biden campaign plans to mark the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed the federal right to abortion, by storming the country with messages and events that aimed to contrast President Joe Biden’s views with those of former President Donald Trump, according to information shared exclusively with NBC News.
During the weekend before and on the anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, the campaign will host more than 30 events to mobilize volunteers and contact voters in cities in battleground states including Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
Campaign officials also plan to use the anniversary, which falls just days before Biden is scheduled to debate Trump for the first time this cycle on June 27, as an opportunity to talk about the stakes of the election and to address Trump’s past statements on abortion to fall.
“What you’re going to see this anniversary is every arm, every muscle of this campaign is going to be mobilized on this issue and part of this effort,” said Morgan Mohr, the Biden campaign’s senior adviser on reproductive rights. in an interview. “We have seen that it works and we are very excited to seize this moment. And we’re excited to continue doing that every week for the next 20 weeks until we win this election.”
Mohr described the anniversary of the Dobbs decision as the “two-year mark of the devastation Trump has wrought across the country” and added that the campaign plans to “show voters exactly what he has done to women across the country affected’.
The overall strategy comes as the Biden campaign views abortion as a uniquely mobilizing issue, with several state ballot measures planned to put the issue of abortion access before voters in November. In interviews and in various polls, Americans have repeatedly said abortion is an important issue that will affect how they vote.
As part of this action, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with several campaign surrogates and celebrities, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith and actor Lisa Ann Walter, draw attention to what they say are the dangerous consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade that have rippled across the country.
The Biden campaign, which has made telling the personal stories of women affected by abortion restrictions a key part of its message, will feature more of those stories in new ads leading up to the anniversary.
The campaign also plans to host virtual and in-person storytelling trainings to help women share their own stories and why they believe reproductive freedom is important. Women who have faced health issues related to abortion laws, including Kaitlyn Kash, Amanda Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua, Dr. Austin Dennard, Latorya Beasley and Lauren Miller, will also fan out across the country for campaign events.
The campaign also plans to get surrogates on the radio and have popular internet creators and personalities distribute information and news updates about the Biden campaign at events and rallies.
In an interview with NBC News, Kash, a 37-year-old woman from Austin, Texas, said she welcomed the opportunity to share her story to help re-elect Biden. She said she traveled abroad for an abortion while 13 weeks pregnant with her second child, after learning the fetus had a fatal birth defect. She later gave birth to a healthy daughter via in vitro fertilization.
Kash was part of a group of women who sued Texas to clarify to the state when exceptions to the abortion ban could be made. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the women last month, saying the medical exceptions in Texas law were broad enough.
“I have to give my time and my story at a national level because my state won’t protect me,” Kash said. “My state has made it very clear that they don’t care if I live or die, and they don’t care about my right to choose what I want to do. And so I need federal protection.”
She added that she hopes others will be strengthened by hearing her story.
“I want women to hear our stories and hopefully feel comfortable talking to someone about their decision or what they had to do because you shouldn’t do this alone,” Kash said. “I also want to take the stigma away from this conversation. Abortion is healthcare, and healthcare is a basic human right. We need to talk about this and let women know that they are supported and that we care for them, that we love them and that we want to help them.”
Kash also said she is motivated after the Supreme Court’s decision last week to reject an appeal against the abortion pill mifepristone, which meant the widely used drug could remain widely available. She said the pill, which she took during a miscarriage, remains accessible despite the relief. The ruling underscored for her that those opposed to abortion rights will continue to try to restrict access to the procedure.
“I’m absolutely afraid that we’re not going to stop with just these kinds of bans and there will be a national ban,” she said. “I think it’s important, especially in battleground states, for women to hear, ‘You may think your rights are protected now, but until we can do something at the federal level, that may not be the case.’”
And while Trump has said he wants to leave the issue of abortion to the states, the Biden campaign has said they will continue to say Trump and Republicans cannot be trusted and that they would push for a national ban on abortions if they get the chance.
When asked how this week’s Supreme Court decision on abortion drugs has been factored into campaign plans, Mohr said the message would be that the challenge to mifepristone is “just one part of a large-scale, multi-faceted strategy to ban abortion nationwide.”
“We are seeing in real time the chaos, confusion and cruelty he has caused,” Mohr said of Trump. “It’s not over yet. We haven’t hit rock bottom yet, but it’s terrible enough. And what he’s done could get much worse if he returns to power and brings this devastation to all 50 states.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
