President Joe Biden has made abortion a cornerstone of his mid-term campaigning. In a speech at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington last week, he promised the first bill he will send to Congress after the mid-terms will be a codification of Roe v. Wade, restoring a right to abortion across the country.

Of course, whether or not he can do this depends on whether Democrats keep control of the House of Representatives. “You got to get out the vote,” he told his audience. “We can do this if we vote.”

He continued to criticise the Supreme Court as a oppressor of women. “For the first time in our history, the Supreme Court didn’t just fail to preserve a constitutional freedom, it actually took away the right that was so fundamental to Americans. It took away a right. And the fear that now that most personal decisions may not only be made by the woman and her doctor, but by politicians to make that decision.”

And he forecast that the Court would also remove the right to contraception and the right to same-sex marriage.

The incumbent party is normally punished in mid-term elections. But the President obviously believes that stoking anger over reproductive rights will be a game-changer for the Democrats. This remains to be seen. With the US entering turbulent economic waters, voters make care more about the cost of living than abortion rights.