Biden says Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that affirmed the constitutional right to access abortion, “should be the law.”

He acknowledges that Trump’s stacking of the federal courts, with the help of politicians in the U.S. Senate opposed to abortion access, threatens to undermine Roe — and as president, he will ensure that nominees to our federal courts support Roe and abortion access. 

Biden stands ready to defend the fundamental rights recognized in Roe v. Wade through federal law — establishing nationwide protections for abortion that can stand, even if the precedent is  overturned by the Supreme Court.

Biden pledges to work with his future appointees in the Justice Department to end the rash of abortion bans and targeted restrictions against abortion providers (TRAP) laws in states across the country.

Biden has denounced such bans and restrictions, saying: “States across the nation are passing extreme laws that violate a woman’s constitutional right to choose. These bills are a blatant attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade. It's wrong. It's pernicious. We must #StopTheBans and ensure this choice remains between a woman and her doctor.” 

Where Trump has worked with anti-abortion politicians in the Senate to stack the courts with judges who have records hostile to sexual and reproductive health care, Biden pledges to nominate judges who support Roe v. Wade. Biden also advocates for "a Congress that will protect reproductive rights."

After listening intently to the input of reproductive justice partners and advocates, Biden committed to support ending the Hyde Amendment — a pernicious federal law that effectively makes access to abortion contingent on one’s income or source of health insurance.

Biden discussed his commitment to ending the Hyde Amendment at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund “We Decide 2020” presidential forum.

"I can't justify leaving women without access to the care they need and their ability to exercise their constitutionally protected right. If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone's income." — Joe Biden

Biden says that he would “repeal the global gag rule,” which blocks the access of global health organizations — especially reproductive health — to U.S. funding if they provide or mention abortion.

President Trump reinstated and expanded the global gag rule days after his inauguration, hurting people in poor and hard-to-reach communities around the world — including in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Biden says the Trump-Pence administration’s reinstatement and expansion of the global gag rule “is dead wrong — people are dying around the world." Indeed, the global gag rule has had devastating consequences on women, girls, and vulnerable communities all over the world, including deaths from unsafe abortions.

Biden’s public health response plan to combat the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic calls for no-cost testing, equitable access to treatment, vaccine development, and increasing the capacity of the country's health care system.

Biden calls the country’s high maternal mortality rate for Black women “a disgrace.”

To tackle the maternal mortality crisis among Black women, Biden favors implementing a program similar to one in California that tracked racial disparities and dramatically reduced the state’s maternal mortality rate overall.

Biden fought in the political trenches alongside President Obama to overrule politicians who tried to block the creation of the ACA, which provided health care coverage for 20 million previously uninsured Americans. In 2010, Vice President Biden stood by President Obama’s side as he signed the ACA into law. Since then:

• The U.S. uninsured rate dropped from 18% in 2010 to 10% in 2016;

• 62 million women gained guaranteed birth control coverage without copays or other out-of-pocket costs;

• About 13.6 million adults gained Medicaid coverage, including a significant portion of Black and Latinx women — who, because of systemic racism and historic barriers, are more likely to be low-income and use Medicaid coverage than white women.

• All young people gained the ability to stay on their parents’ health care plans until they reach the age of 26; and 

• More than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions (such as breast cancer, or being a survivor of domestic abuse) got protection — and peace of mind.

Biden promises to protect and build on the ACA, and to ensure health care coverage to the nearly 5 million adults with low incomes who still lack it because their states haven’t expanded Medicaid.

He is also committed to dismantling discrimination in our health care system — including systemic racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. And Biden pledges to always safeguard the protections the ACA extends to women, people of color, and LGBTQ people — protections that Trump is trying to end.