Instead, both of them left me disappointed for different reasons. Biden struggled to come up with coherent answers; Trump spread dangerous falsehoods . Both left me worried about the state of abortion – and the nation – come November.
Most shockingly, Trump declared abortions were happening " after birth " – something that simply can’t happen.
Obviously, Trump lied about abortion
To be clear, abortions are procedures that terminate pregnancies – not what Trump is describing, which is murder.
Roe v. Wade, which was overturned two years ago this week , protected abortion until viability. Most fetuses are viable around 23 to 24 weeks . Less than 1% of abortions occur after 21 weeks, and it’s estimated that 0.02% of all abortions take place after 26 weeks – still earlier than what Trump said at the debate.
“The problem they have is they're radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth,” Trump said .
Despite the incorrect information, Trump doubled down on his claim when asked a second question.
I expected Trump to use Thursday night to define his stance on abortion. I did not expect him to spend so much time talking about something that doesn't happen.
He didn’t call for a national abortion ban – a net win for those of us concerned with reproductive rights – but he did say he believes there should be some exceptions to any ban.
Biden tried but failed in his messaging on abortion rights
President Joe Biden during the debate at CNN's studios in Atlanta. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Biden at least took the time to say that he wanted to restore Roe, but it took a long time to get there. I expected him to say something motivating – Democrats are campaigning heavily on abortion, and it’s a huge concern for Gen Z in particular. I would have rather he have laid out clear plans for making Roe v. Wade the law of the land.
“It’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done,” Biden said to Trump when he talked about appointing three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.
Biden's campaign has made abortion central to his platform, even sending Vice President Kamala Harris to visit an abortion provider in Minnesota back in March. Considering how much they've been campaigning on the issue, I expected more than mild chastising from Biden during the debate.
Overall, both candidates left me disappointed.
Abortion is the biggest issue of the election cycle – according to Gallup, 32% of voters say they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion . Fifty-four percent of the country identifies as pro-choice; forty-one percent say they are pro-life.
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When it comes to policy, Pew Research Center found that 63% of people believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Thirty-six percent of Americans believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.
If abortion is as big of an issue as polling would have us believe, I want both of our presidential candidates to act like it. I want Trump to stop spreading disinformation about abortion. I want Biden to take a stronger stance. I fear what happens in November if neither of these things change.
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