Abortion set to take centre stage at Biden’s State of the Union as he vows to restore Roe v Wade

‘I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again’

President Joe Biden will use his State of the Union address to hail the electoral strength of American women and vow to sign into law legislation codifying the federal right to abortion if returned to the White House with a Democratic House and Senate in 2025.

According to an excerpt of his remarks released by the White House, Mr Biden will reference the Supreme Court’s majority opinion overturning Roe v Wade in which the conservative majority on the court said women “are not without electoral or political power”.

He will quote those words from the court’s decision and remark: “No kidding”.

“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024,” he will say.

Mr Biden will tell the assembled House and Senate members — and the American people watching at home — that if voters send him “a Congress that supports the right to choose,” he will sign a bill to restore women’s reproductive rights nationwide.

“I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” he will say.

The 46th president’s prepared remarks also include what appears to be a dig at the man who he defeated in the 2020 presidential election and who he will face once more in this year’s contest, former president Donald Trump.

Another excerpt of his speech shows Mr Biden plans to tell Americans that his lifetime has “taught [him] to embrace freedom and democracy,” as well as “a future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality”.

He will also say he has learned over his 81 years “to respect everyone, to give everyone a fair shot” and “to give hate no safe harbour”.

“Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me,” he will say.

That last line about “resentment” and “revenge” and “retribution” appears to be a direct shot at Mr Trump, who in his campaign stump speech routinely tells his supporters that he is their “retribution”.

And the reference to “other people my age” is a nod to the fact that Mr Trump, 78, is just three years younger than the man he hopes to defeat in his quest to return to the White House and escape facing the 91 criminal charges against him across four separate jurisdictions.

With 24 weeks remaining until the 5 November general election, the president’s annual message to Congress is one of the last major opportunities he will have to reassure Americans that he is up to the job despite being the oldest-ever chief executive to serve and the oldest to seek a second term.

He is also expected to use his prime-time speech to tout his administration’s progress in lowering prices for consumers and to push for Congress to expand efforts to lower healthcare costs and reform America’s tax code, according to administration officials familiar with his plans.