Biden Defends Reproductive Rights, Touts Drug-Pricing Law in State of the Union

President Biden hammered home his commitment to reproductive healthcare and touted his administration’s health-related accomplishments — from lowering drug costs to expanding access to affordable healthcare — during his State of the Union address on Thursday evening.

The president pledged to restore Roe v. Wade if given the tools to do so. He also announced plans to cap the cost of insulin for all Americans who need it, lower the prices of more drugs, and protect the Affordable Care Act from repeal attempts.

Reproductive Rights, Abortion, IVF

The president did not wait long in his address to mention the simmering debate over in vitro fertilization (IVF). “History is watching another assault on American freedom,” he said within the first 10 minutes of his address, casting similarities between attacks on reproductive rights and the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children in the eyes of the state. Abortion opponents have long-held that life begins at conception and abortion rights advocates believe the ruling could establish “personhood” for fertilized eggs. Following the decision, Alabama fertility clinics halted IVF treatments.

Biden shared the story of Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama, and First Lady Jill Biden’s guest that evening, who had had a baby girl through IVF and planned to have a second child when the state’s Supreme Court decision shut down access to IVF treatment across the state.

“She was told her dream would have to wait,” Biden said. “So tonight, let’s stand up for families like hers. To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep this waiting any longer,” he said, referring to a bill Democrats claim Republicans are blocking that aims to protect the right of IVF for all Americans. (On Wednesday, Alabama passed a law to protect physicians from possible legal liability for performing IVF, and clinics have restarted the procedures, but the law does not address the legal status of embryos.)

The saga was one more ripple effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which ended the constitutional right to an abortion, Biden said.

At least 21 states have passed laws banning, restricting, and criminalizing access to abortion in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

Kate Cox from Dallas, another guest at Thursday’s speech, also wanted a child but her fetus had a fatal condition, Biden said. Her physician told Cox her life and her ability to have children was at risk if she didn’t act, but a Texas law forced Cox to leave the state to get an abortion. “There are state laws banning the freedom to choose, criminalizing doctors, forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states to get the treatment they need,” Biden said. Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress, as well as former president Donald Trump, have promised a federal ban on reproductive freedoms, he warned.

“If the American people send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” Biden said.

Lowering Drug Prices, Expanding Insurance Access

Biden also highlighted some key healthcare achievements, including expanding access to health insurance and lowering drug prices.

“More people have health insurance today than ever before,” the president said. Twenty-one million Americans have health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces — an increase of 9 million since he first took office, according to the White House. And more than 100 million Americans cannot be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions.

Although “my predecessor” and other Republicans still plan to repeal Obamacare, Biden said, “I’m not gonna let that happen.”

Regarding drug prices, Biden said Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any country in the world. But because of the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare, for the first time, has the authority to negotiate drug prices for some of the costliest drugs, he said.

“It’s now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade,” he said, adding such actions would save taxpayers $200 billion.

Also, in 2025, the law will cap prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 per year, he noted. “I want to cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for everyone,” he said.

The bill also targets the high price of insulin. “Instead of paying $400 a month, or thereabouts, for insulin for diabetes that only costs 10 bucks to make, [manufacturers] only get paid $35 a month now and still make a healthy profit,” he said. “I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American that needs it. Everyone.”

Gun Violence, the COVID Pandemic

Turning to gun violence, Biden shared the story of Jazmin Cazares from Uvalde, Texas, whose 9-year-old sister was murdered with 20 of her classmates and teachers at their elementary school.

After his visit there with the first lady, President Biden recalled that he was told to “do something.” So he created the first ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the White House, he said, which is overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris.

He also signed “the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years,” Biden said, referring to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed by Congress in 2022.

“We now must beat the NRA [National Rifle Association] again,” he said, urging a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. “Pass universal background checks,” he added. “None of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners.”

Separately, Biden asked Americans to recall the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Remember the fear. Record losses …[a] raging virus that took more than 1 million American lives,” Biden said. “My predecessor failed the most basic presidential duty that he owes to the American people: the duty to care.”

“It doesn’t make news, [but] in a thousand cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” he added.

Finally, Biden, who has a stutter and stumbled over some words at various points during the address, acknowledged concerns about his age. “Whether young or old … I’ve always known what endures,” he said. “I’ve known our North Star. The very idea of Americans, that we’re all created equal … We’ve never fully lived up to that idea. We’ve never walked away from it, either, and I won’t walk away from it now.”

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