Biden needs abortion on the ballot. Republicans can't stop helping him.
Donald Trump works feverishly to turn his many weaknesses into shows of strength.
Charge him with crimes for paying hush money to a porn star and the one-term president will show up in court to pervert the proceedings into a venue for political rants.
Hold him accountable for running a business rife with fraud and he'll tell supporters the government targets him as a way of attacking them.
But ask him about abortion and watch Trump tap the breaks.
Trump wants credit for appointing the three U.S. Supreme Court justices who undid constitutional protections for abortion nearly two years ago but no accountability for what came after that.
Florida's incoming abortion ban only helps Biden
President Joe Biden has seen Democrats rack up victory after victory since the 2022 midterm elections, with candidates campaigning as champions for reproductive rights. Biden now needs abortion on ballots across the country in November.
And Republicans just can't help but help him. As Trump scrambles to find a safe position on abortion, members of his party are openly endangering access to in vitro fertilization, known as IVF, and even contraception.
Florida is just the latest state where abortion will be front and center in the debate from now until the presidential election.
That state's Supreme Court on Monday upheld a six-week ban on abortion that had been pushed by former Trump rival Gov. Ron DeSantis. But the court also approved a ballot question asking voters there if access to abortion should be expanded.
A problem for Trump: Florida Supreme Court puts abortion on the ballot – and hands Trump a serious problem
A University of North Florida poll in November found that 62% of registered voters supported enshrining protections for abortion in the state's constitution. The ballot measure requires a supermajority of at least 60% in November to pass.
But just having it on the ballot is a win for Democrats like Biden, who can use it to motivate voters to turn out.
"We definitely see Florida in play," Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told reporters Tuesday while emphasizing Biden's considerable advantage in fundraising to push messaging about abortion to voters.
Florida has been trending Republican for years, as Trump defeated Hillary Clinton there by just 1.2% in 2016 and Biden by 3.3% in 2020.
But Rick Wilson, a Republican political consultant and Trump critic who co-founded The Lincoln Project, posted on X (formerly Twitter) Monday: "Florida just got a lot more expensive for the GOP."
There's the upside for Biden. Making Republicans spend more in states Trump may win leaves them with less to spend in states Biden can win.
Trump has a history of abortion rhetoric
Trump has touched this hot stove before. He clearly remembers the burn.
Campaigning for the presidency eight years ago, he was asked what would happen if abortion was outlawed and women still went forward with the procedure.
"The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment," Trump answered, setting off a backlash that lingers today. Biden's campaign cited that repeatedly during a call with reporters Tuesday.
Trump boasts about his role in undoing Roe v. Wade but steps much more carefully when pressed for a position on how states regulate abortion and whether he would back a federal ban on the procedure.
He said last month he was open to a federal ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. But then he said it shouldn't be a federal issue at all. Try to get a straight answer from him. He goes all dodgy.
"He does have a sort of animal cunning about issues that can hurt him," Wilson told me in an interview. "He wants the acknowledgment of what he accomplished for evangelicals on abortion. But he doesn't want to take any political damage for it."
Accountability comes slow for Trump. But he can't stall it forever. The issue is out there in other states. Voters have strong opinions about abortion. A Fox News poll last week found 59% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Abortion is on the ballot in several states
Six states have held ballot measures about abortion since Roe fell two years ago, according to KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, which describes itself as an independent source for health policy research.
Voters in Kansas and Kentucky in 2022 rejected attempts to amend their state constitutions to say it contained no right to abortion. In the same year, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont backed constitutional protections for reproductive medicine, followed by Ohio last year.
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Planned Parenthood told me it is backing ballot measures in Maryland, which would add protection for abortion to the state constitution, and in New York, where voters are being asked about an equal rights amendment that does not specifically mention abortion but bans discrimination in reproductive health care. The group also supports efforts under way in other states.
Arizona activists on Tuesday said they had collected enough signatures on petitions for a ballot question asking voters if abortion should be protected in the state constitution.
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Colorado has what The Associated Press on Monday called "dueling efforts" for two potential ballot questions – one to ban abortion, the other to amend the state constitution to protect it and require Medicaid and insurance companies to pay for it.
Ballot questions about protecting access to abortion in state constitutions are also brewing in Missouri, Montana and Nebraska. This is all good for Biden.
Biden sees opportunity in swing states
No wonder the Biden camp is treating Florida like a windfall. Arizona and Colorado are swing states where they can champion reproductive rights while touting the 2022 win in Michigan, another swing state.
The Biden campaign on Tuesday weaponized Trump's bragging in a new television ad, part of a $30 million spring push in swing states.
"For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated. And I did it," Trump says in the ad. "And I'm proud to have done it."
Biden, in the ad, says Trump is pushing for "a national ban" while he'll pursue "a federal guarantee" for reproductive medicine.
Trump campaigned in Wisconsin on Tuesday and the Democratic National Committee greeted him with new billboards that say, "If Trump wins, Wisconsin families lose," citing a national abortion ban.
That felt apt. This is going to follow Trump everywhere he goes, his own words broadcasting his boasts, emphasizing his actions to take away the constitutional protection that a significant majority of voters wanted to remain in place.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida six week abortion ban helps Biden this election. Good one, GOP
