Biden Accepts Planned Parenthood Award in Delaware, Tells Democrats to Vote Amid "Dark Days"

Former President Joe Biden appeared with former First Lady Jill Biden at Planned Parenthood of Delaware's fundraising gala at The Waterfall in Claymont, Delaware, on Thursday, September 24, 2026, where he received the affiliate's 2026 Sonia Schorr Sloan Service Award and delivered a get-out-the-vote appeal to Democrats, according to KPAX and Legal Insurrection. Biden urged Democrats to vote and to "restore dignity and respect" to elected office, saying the country is going through "dark days." The award is named for Sonia "Sonny" Sloan, a longtime abortion-rights activist, close Biden friend, and early political supporter, and Biden said he would not have become a U.S. senator or president "if it weren't for Sonny Sloan." The former president also criticized the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion, and described his own record on reproductive health care as president.

What happened

Biden's appearance marked a rare public political moment for the 46th president, delivered at a fundraising gala for the Delaware affiliate of Planned Parenthood. Accepting the award named for Sloan, Biden said Sloan would have been "devastated" by the Dobbs ruling and filled with "anger and astonishment" at the end of the federal constitutional right to abortion.

"Following the Dobbs decision, as president, I tried to do what I knew Sonny would have done. We took action. We signed executive orders to protect access to reproductive health care, including emergency medical care," Biden said, according to the reporting.

His closing rallying cry to the audience was directed at women voters: "You have no idea how powerful women are in this country. You are about to find out."

The full turnout message, as quoted in the coverage, ran: "Folks, we can do this. I promise you we can do this. And we will... You just need to remember who in the hell we are. For the United States of America. There's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. So get up."

Planned Parenthood of Delaware, the gala's host, advertises both medication and surgical abortions, with surgical abortions offered through 15 weeks and six days of pregnancy and abortion pills through 12 weeks, per Legal Insurrection's account of the affiliate's services.

Why it matters

The Dobbs decision in 2022 remains a defining fault line in American electoral politics. Scripps notes that the ruling likely kept Democrats from losing more seats in the 2022 midterms, though abortion faded as a major issue in the 2024 cycle. Biden's speech is an attempt to revive the issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, framing Democratic turnout as the remedy for what he called "dark days."

The award itself carries symbolic weight for Biden's political biography. By crediting Sloan, an early supporter and abortion-rights activist, with his rise to the Senate and the presidency, Biden tied his personal political story directly to the reproductive-rights movement at a moment when his party is deciding how prominently to feature the issue.

The appearance also lands amid continuing public attention to Biden's health. Related Scripps reporting says Biden's prostate cancer radiation treatment "worked as intended," while Hunter Biden has said his father's cancer has spread, causing severe pain. That backdrop gives any Biden political appearance added scrutiny from observers assessing his post-presidency role in the party.

For Planned Parenthood, the gala highlighted the organization's scale and funding. The organization reported 434,450 abortions in its 2023 to 2024 reporting year and received $832 million in government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements in that period, nearly $40 million more than the previous period, figures that opponents frequently cite in funding debates.

How it is being covered

According to Ground News, 15 sources are tracking the story, with a left/centre/right split of 0/57/43 percent, making it a documented blindspot on the left with no left-leaning outlets carrying it. Right-leaning outlets including Legal Insurrection, RedState, BizPac Review, and American Wire framed the gala around Biden's Catholic faith versus Planned Parenthood's abortion record, while the centre and Scripps' KPAX framed it as a get-out-the-vote speech. Of the 14 rated sources, 5 are rated very high factuality, 3 high, 4 mixed, 2 low, and 1 unknown, per Ground News.

What to watch

• Whether Biden makes further campaign-style appearances ahead of the November 2026 midterms, and whether abortion returns to the center of Democratic messaging as he urged.
• How Democratic candidates in competitive states weigh Biden's involvement, given the mixed political history of abortion as a 2024 issue.
• Any response from Republican officials or anti-abortion groups to the award, particularly around the faith framing that right-leaning outlets have emphasized.
• Updates on Biden's health, given the conflicting accounts of his cancer treatment's progress between Scripps reporting and Hunter Biden's comments.

By the numbers

Source snapshot