Trump to blame for abortion ‘nightmare’, Biden says in Florida

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday blamed his Republican opponent Donald Trump for new Florida abortion restrictions during a campaign stop in Tampa as Democrats double down on their intentions to flip Trump's home state.

Earlier this month, Florida's supreme court cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban starting on May 1, a timeframe before many women realise they are pregnant. The court also ordered a ballot measure legalising abortion until viability could go before voters in  November.

The conservative US supreme court's overturning of Roe vs Wade in 2022 opened the door for Florida and other states to set their own abortion laws. Trump campaigned in 2016 on adding judges who would overturn Roe and appointed three who did.

"Let's be real clear: there's one person responsible for this nightmare. He brags about it. Donald Trump," Biden told supporters.

"It should be a constitutional right," Biden said of abortion. "This isn't about state's rights. It's about women's rights."

Abortion is a top issue in the 2024 election, and Democrats believe harsh restrictions such as those in Florida and Arizona, which earlier this month upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban, will push voters to back Biden. US voters overwhelmingly reject strict abortion bans, polls and state ballot initiatives show.

Abortion access is almost non-existent in southern states due to new laws, nearly all of them backed by Republicans, forcing women to cross state lines.

Trump's stance on the issue has been muddied in recent weeks. The Republican distanced himself from an Arizona ruling that upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban as he took credit for appointing the three supreme court justices who overturned Roe vs Wade and made state restrictions possible.

"Donald Trump is worried voters are going to hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he's created," Biden said.

"We are. He should be held accountable."

At a later campaign stop, Biden told a small group of Democrats: "I think Florida is in play nationally."

Florida has a hefty 30 electoral college votes and for a long time was a highly coveted battleground state, but Republicans have pulled away from Democrats there in recent years.

Some Biden aides think his and the party's optimism in the state could be misplaced.

Trump won Florida in 2020 with 51.2% of the vote compared with Biden's 47.9%. In 2022, Republican Ron DeSantis won the governor's race in a landslide, with 59.4% of the vote.

Florida Democratic party chair Nikki Fried told Reuters she has seen more investments in advertising, staffing and opening new offices in the state from the Biden campaign. Biden, she said, understands the fight to win Florida "is an uphill battle, but it's one worth taking".

A compilation of opinion polls by FiveThirtyEight, the election data website, shows Trump with a substantial lead in Florida.

The Biden campaign has opened 133 offices nationwide, Biden said on Tuesday. It has yet to open one in Florida, a campaign official said.

Reuters