Women for Biden are Fierce and Unafraid

First Lady Jill Biden spoke at the 20th year anniversary of Arizona List at the Fox Theater in Tucson on March 2, 2024. Following are her remarks:

---

It’s no accident that Arizona is one of the places we’ve chosen to stop during our launch for Women for Biden this weekend.

Because four years ago, Arizona, you put us in the White House. Those in high office will never forget how hard you worked and how much you gave. And we are so grateful. Thank you so much for being here today. Serving as your First Lady has been the honor of my life.

Over the last three years, I’ve loved the opportunity to travel the country and the world. I’ve met with military spouses, cancer patients, educators, and artists. I’ve traveled to blue states and red states, spotlighting women’s health and lifting up teachers! And yeah, I know that what most people say I’ll be remembered for is something that comes so naturally to me—keeping my career.

The woman that I’ve been since my twenties didn’t just disappear because my husband became President. I couldn’t give up something that I’ve worked so hard to build, something that’s really a part of me. So, I didn’t. I continued to teach at a community college not far from the White House. In fact, I printed papers on the flight here.

Our country has made incredible progress in my lifetime. Yet, too often, we still ask women to choose between different parts of themselves. And all around us, extremists are working harder than ever to drag us back to a past that we thought was long over.

One of my friends got pregnant

This morning, I want to tell you a story about something that happened long ago. But one that has really been on my mind more and more. A story that might not be unfamiliar to you. When I was 17, one of my friends got pregnant. It was the late 60s. Abortion was illegal in Pennsylvania. To end the pregnancy, she told me that her only recourse was to undergo a psychiatric evaluation that would declare her mentally unfit before the doctor would perform the procedure.

I went to see her in the hospital, and then I cried the whole way home. When she was discharged from the hospital, she could not go back to her house. So I gathered my courage and asked my mom, “Can she stay with us?” My mom didn’t hesitate. “Of course, she can.”

And she never told a soul. And we never spoke about it again. Secrecy, shame, silence, danger, even death. That is what defined that time ago for so many women.

I was shocked when the Dobbs decision came out. It was devastating. How could we go back to that time? I thought of all the girls and women like my friend, whose education, careers, and future depended on the ability to choose when they have children.

I thought of the countless women who stood up for that freedom and the men who fought beside them—everyone who organized for change and voted for justice. And I thought about the generation inheriting our legacy and the world we’re shaping for them.

I lost my mother a few months before Joe became Vice President. And there is nothing I miss more than the sound of her voice. The way I could call her when I was hurt or angry. When I felt like I could never live up to being the person I wanted to be, and just the sound of her voice, let me know that everything was going to be okay. She left before I was done needing her.

But I feel her strength inside of me every single day. We all need to find that strength right now. There is way too much at stake. Extremist Republicans led by Donald Trump are passing laws that prevent women from getting the health care they need, including IVF.

Donald Trump has spent a lifetime devaluing our bodies, disrespecting our accomplishments, and bragging about assault. Now he’s bragging about killing Roe v. Wade. How far will he go? When will he stop? You know the answer. He won’t. He said it to himself just this week. He’s considering a national abortion ban. Donald Trump is dangerous to women and to our families.

We simply cannot let him win.

The morning after the election in 2016, we were terrified of the future ahead of us, thinking, “Oh my God, what just happened? What are we going to do now?” Well, I will tell you, we are going to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Look around you—Women for Biden Harris. We are going to do what we did in 2020 and 2022.

We’re going to talk to our friends about why this election is so important. Tell them what’s at stake. Sign up for phone banks at this moment as if our rights are at risk because they are. As if our democracy is on the line, because it is. We’ll decide our future because here’s the thing about men like Donald Trump. They underestimate our power because they don’t understand it. They see how we can lead through collaboration by empowering others.

And they look at us, and they see weakness. But we know that our community is our strength. They see our empathy and our compassion as a vulnerability. But we know they’re what give us the clarity to fight for what’s right. They think that our love for our children makes us soft. But we know that these lives light a fire in our hearts, making us fierce and unafraid.

They don’t know that our students are on the line when our daughters’ futures are at stake. When our country and its freedom hang in the balance, we are immovable and unstoppable. That’s what our power looks like. It’s time to show them once again just what we can do by reelecting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Arizona, you were essential to our win in 2020. And I know that we will win this state again. We will. We will. We will decide the future we want. The future we all need, and when we do, nothing and no one can stand in our way.

Thank you, Arizona! We all owe you a debt of gratitude for your work. Thank you.