In a deeply unconvincing speech full of stale platitudes and bare-minimum promises, President Joe Biden treated abortion rights like they were a campaign-trail side dish rather than the main course of his coming election. If you’ve seen the articles gushing about his 2024 State of the Union address, you’ve probably noticed a number of outlets striving to center the abortion part of his speech — as though they might encourage him, like a grade schooler, by loudly praising even the poorest effort in order to spur him toward better attempts.
And I get it. We all need some hope right now. Taking your wins where you can get them — no matter how small — is part of that. But Biden’s not a kid, and I’m not here to spare the rod. I’ll vote how I must, but I’m not so scared of Donald Trump’s return that I’ll grit my teeth and cheer for whatever bare-minimum candidate the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee props up on stage. And if you care about abortion rights, you shouldn’t cheer either. At least not for a string of empty promises and hollow threats. If you haven’t seen the abortion excerpt of Biden’s speech, Time Magazine’s video cut is tidy enough.
