President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights

*During his address at the Hillsborough Community College, President Joe Biden vowed to make Roe v. Wade “the law of the land again.” ORACLE PHOTO/CLINTON ENGELBERGER*

Gearing up for the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden made a stop in Tampa to talk about reproductive freedom in Florida on Tuesday afternoon.

The speech comes just two weeks before the state’s six-week abortion ban comes into effect on May 1. Biden called on Floridians to vote for an amendment deciding abortion access in the state this November.

“Now in America, today in 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers because of Donald Trump,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to let him get away with that… Do you?”

If passed, amendment four would give Floridians a constitutional right to an abortion before fetal viability, or around the time a fetus can survive outside the uterus. Viability is usually estimated at 24 weeks, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Biden gave the 15-minute speech at the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry campus’ gymnasium. The stop is a part of his official campaign for the upcoming election.

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The president was introduced to the room by community organizer Kaitlyn Joshua, a Lousiana-native who shared her experience with her home state’s strict abortion laws. As he entered the room, the crowd chanted “Four more years.”

Tuesday marked the second time Biden has visited Tampa as the sitting U.S. president. In February 2023, he came to the University of Tampa to talk about strengthening Medicare and Social Security.

The address, however, did not come without its fair share of critics.

Pro-life protesters lined fences close to the gymnasium with posters of fetuses. One sign held by a protester read ‘Thou shall not murder – GOD.”

Just outside the campus, another issue took the center stage.

Over 150 people from multiple Tampa organizations, including the USF Divest Coalition and USF’s Students for a Democratic Society, protested the “ongoing genocide” in Palestine.

But in the gymnasium, Biden focused on abortion access, telling the audience a federal ban on abortion will never occur under his watch.

“Know this, as long as I have the power of the presidency that is never going to happen,” he said as the crowd cheered on. “With a democratic Congress, [Vice president] Kamala Harris and I will make Roe the law of the land again.”

Take a look at some of The Oracle’s photos of Biden’s address.