WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden may not often use the word “abortion” when talking about the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Wade, but the vice president Kamala Harris for sure. She also visited a Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed and routinely links the fall of Roe to the larger problem of rising maternal mortality across the country.
Now that Harris is running for president in Biden’s place, Democrats and reproductive rights advocates are hoping that her outspokenness on abortion — along with the administration’s policies — will help convince voters to hand them not just the White House, but also important seats in Congress. .
“The president was officially fabulous and the campaign ran several reproduction-focused ads a week and had an army of surrogates,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All. “But, you know, nothing is more convincing than the top of the list being the most convincing on the issue, and that’s what we have now.”
At her first official rally as a candidate on Tuesday, Harris briefly addressed the issue of abortion. But she is expected to make it a major feature of the campaign going forward as she works to draw a stark contrast between herself and Republicans. donald trump.
She is eager to present herself as an outspoken and consistent advocate with a history of fighting for reproductive health issues, especially Black maternal health.
“We who believe in reproductive freedom will end Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies, not their government to tell them what to do,” she said, to loud applause at a rally in Wisconsin.
The Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, dropped abortion rights that have existed since 1973. Since then, about half of states have implemented some type of ban.
The consequences of these bans go far beyond restricting access to those who want to end unwanted pregnancies. And generally, states with the most restrictions also have the worst maternal mortality rates.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for nullifying the federally guaranteed right to abortion. He named three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe. But he publicly resisted supporting a national abortion ban.
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said he adheres to Trump’s views. But in 2022, when running for Senate, Vance said, “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationwide.”
Dr. Jamila Perritt, leader of the nonpartisan group Physicians for Reproductive Health, laid out a grim picture for women today that she hopes will change.
“The destruction of the health care safety net, the attacks on bodily autonomy, and the rising maternal mortality rate clearly show us that pregnant people and those capable of becoming pregnant do not have access to the options they need to stay healthy. safe and healthy,” she said, adding that it’s worse for black women, who have to face racism on top of worsening health care.
“We need bold solutions to combat these crises on multiple fronts,” she said.
Even before dropping out of the race, Biden made Harris his main messenger on the issue. In the days following Roe’s overturn, the vice president met with lawmakers from conservative states to discuss how to protect abortion rights in the wake of the ruling. They called meetings at the White House. Earlier this year, she went on a reproductive rights tour in swing states, starting in Wisconsin.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, said reproductive freedom is an “everyone” issue, not a “women’s” issue. On Tuesday, in his first public appearance since his wife began running for the top spot, he visited an abortion clinic.
“We saw stories of women who literally had to be at death’s door before they could receive treatment. It’s barbaric, it’s immoral and it must change,” Emhoff said.
The president’s personal views have evolved over his 50 years in public service, but the 81-year-old Catholic has always felt more comfortable leaving the straight talk to his vice president.
On the political side, Biden has sought to make medical abortion more available, access to contraception easier, and his administration has gone to the Supreme Court to argue that hospitals have a duty under federal law to perform the procedure in situations of life-threatening, even in states. where abortion is now prohibited. Biden also said the Hyde Amendment should be eliminated. Among other things, the amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortion.
But when the president had the opportunity to address Trump on the issue during the June 27 debate, Biden faltered, giving confusing and even absurd answers, and failed to verify Trump’s false claims about Democrats’ views on the issue. This debate triggered his downfall.
Harris’s views have been consistent, dating back to her time in the U.S. Senate and as attorney general in California. She links the issue of abortion to larger problems in the US with maternal mortality and morbidity – clearly discussing how black women are at significantly higher risk of complications and are less likely to be believed when something goes wrong.
As a senator, she championed maternal health legislation. In 2019, she sponsored the Maternal CARE Act, calling for grants that addressed implicit biases in maternal health care. In 2020, she introduced legislation aimed at addressing maternal health outcomes for marginalized populations. She has also co-sponsored bills that address access to birth control and financing of care for uterine fibroids.
During her time as California’s attorney general, Harris also prosecuted an anti-abortion group that secretly recorded videos of abortion providers.
Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said Harris is poised to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, pro-abortion rights candidates ever nominated by a major political party.
“If Harris prevails, it could have a big impact on how we approach abortion rights because it will show that a more open and unapologetic embrace of reproductive rights can lead you to win politically and overcome other political obstacles,” said Ziegler, one of the country’s leading abortion rights scholars.
Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and co-executive director of the national abortion rights organization WeTestify, said Harris’ identity as a Black and South Asian woman uniquely positions her to speak more personally about how abortion bans disproportionately impact black women. She said it “means something to all of us” when people of color speak thoughtfully and unapologetically.
She added, “I’m looking forward to working with someone who we don’t have to beg to use the word ‘abortion.’”
