Criticized for his considered timid defense of the right to abortion, Joe Biden on Friday called on voters, and especially women voters, to vote en masse in the next legislative elections to counter an “out of control” Supreme Court and the “extreme” projects of the Republicans on privacy.

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“For the love of God, there is an election in November, vote, vote, vote,” demanded the American president in a short and pugnacious speech at the White House.

And if the Republican Party wins these elections and passes a law banning abortion across the country, Joe Biden has promised to “veto” it.

His intervention, the pretext of which was the signing of a decree on a series of regulatory actions with a very limited scope, is above all for Joe Biden an attempt to regain control in the face of insistent criticism in his own camp.

Many Democrats and activists believe that the President and his administration, who seemed taken aback on June 24 by a predictable Supreme Court decision against abortion rights, should do more, or failing that, be more politically aggressive.

Saying he is convinced that a “record number” of American women will vote in the midterm elections scheduled for November, Joe Biden admitted: “this is the fastest way” to restore the right to abortion in all the country, via federal law.

The president unleashed his blows against the "out of control" Supreme Court, which ended the constitutional right to abortion enjoyed by all Americans since 1973, and against the "radical" positions of the Republican Party.

"Now is the time ... to protect the nation from an extremist project", which could also call into question the right to contraception or marriage for all, said Joe Biden.

The 79-year-old Democrat was also deeply moved by the fate, reported by the press, of a 10-year-old girl, pregnant following a rape, and forced to leave her state, Ohio, to terminate the pregnancy.

“10 years, 10 years,” he repeated, snapping, “Put yourself in that little girl’s shoes!”

The president wants to act

Joe Biden then signed an executive order launching a series of initiatives, limited in scope, to protect access to abortion and the constitution.

The White House promises, among other things, to “protect sensitive health information” and “combat digital surveillance”.

Many activists warn of the dangers linked to online data, from geolocation or applications for monitoring menstrual cycles, which could be exploited to prosecute women who have had an abortion.

The text signed on Friday also plans to protect mobile clinics practicing abortion at the external borders of states that have banned it.

The White House also wants to guarantee access to contraception, in particular the morning after pill and IUDs.

The US executive also intends to organize a network of volunteer lawyers to help women on the legal front.

These announcements are necessarily limited in scope. Despite his reputation for power, the American president cannot do much when, and this is the case for Joe Biden, he must battle against a Supreme Court and numerous hostile states without having a solid parliamentary majority.

Many Democrats, however, already fear that the attempt at electoral mobilization will flop, coming from an unpopular president, and while galloping inflation is the biggest concern of households.

Beyond the right to abortion, some wonder if Joe Biden, a relentless centrist who is reluctant to show off, is cut out to face an ever more virulent American right, in an ever fiercer political climate.

One only has to read the editorials that have followed one another in recent days, including in reputedly progressive or center-left newspapers: “Is Joe Biden the wrong president at the wrong time?” The Washington Post wondered recently, while The Atlantic wondered: “Is Biden a man of his time?”