WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden may not use the word “abortion” often when talking about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris She certainly does. She has also visited a Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed, and routinely draws a connection between the overturning of Roe and the larger problem of rising maternal mortality rates across the country.
Now that Harris is running for president instead of Biden, Democrats and reproductive rights advocates are hoping her outspokenness on abortion — combined with the administration’s policies — will sway voters to not only win the White House, but also key congressional seats.
“The president on the ticket was fantastic and the campaign was producing multiple repro-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 compelling than the top of the ticket that is the most compelling on the issue, and that’s what we have now.”
In her first official rally as a candidate on Tuesday, Harris briefly touched on the issue of abortion. But she is expected to make it a key part of the campaign as she works to create a sharp contrast between herself and Republican Donald Trump.
She is eager to position herself as a direct and consistent advocate with a history of fighting for reproductive health issues, particularly Black maternal health.
“We who believe in reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies, not their governments to tell them what to do,” she said to loud cheers at a rally in Wisconsin.
The Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, destroyed abortion rights that have been in effect since 1973. Since then, about half of the states have enacted some form of ban.
The consequences of these prohibitions go much further than restricting access to those who want it to end unwanted pregnancies. And, generally speaking, the states with the most restrictions also have the highest rates of maternal mortality.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for overturning the federally guaranteed right to abortion. He nominated three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe. But he has publicly opposed a national ban on abortion.
Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, has said he supports Trump’s views. But in 2022, when he was running for Senate, Vance said, “I would definitely want abortion to be illegal nationwide.”
Dr. Jamila Perritt, leader of the independent group Physicians for Reproductive Health, painted a bleak picture for women today that she hopes will change.
“The destruction of the health care safety net, attacks on bodily autonomy, and rising maternal mortality rates clearly show us that pregnant women and people with the ability to become pregnant do not have access to the options they need to stay safe and healthy,” she said, adding that it is even worse for Black women who face racism on top of deteriorating health care.
“We need bold solutions to combat these crises on multiple fronts,” she said.
Even before Biden dropped out of the race, he had made Harris his top messenger on the issue. In the days after Roe was overturned, the vice president met with lawmakers in conservative states to discuss how to protect abortion rights in the aftermath. They held meetings at the White House. Earlier this year, she toured hard-pressed states, starting with Wisconsin, to advocate for reproductive rights.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, has said reproductive freedom is an “everybody” issue, not a “women’s” issue. On Tuesday, in his first public appearance since his wife sought the top spot on the ticket, he visited an abortion clinic.
“We have seen the stories of women literally dying before they were treated. It is barbaric, it is immoral and it has to change,” Emhoff said.
The president’s personal views have changed over his 50 years in government service, but the 81-year-old Catholic has always preferred to leave the direct discussions to his vice president.
On the policy front, Biden has sought to expand access to medication abortion, expand access to contraception, and his administration has gone to the Supreme Court to argue that hospitals have a duty under federal law to perform the procedure in life-threatening situations, even in states where abortion is now illegal. Biden has also said the Hyde Amendment should be repealed, which, among other things, prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.
But when the president had the chance to confront Trump on the issue during their June 27 debate, Biden hesitated, He gave confused and even nonsensical answers and failed to fact-check Trump’s incorrect claims about the Democrats’ positions on the subject. That debate set his downfall in motion.
Harris’s positions have been consistent, dating back to her time in the U.S. Senate and as California’s attorney general. She ties the issue of abortion to the larger problems in the U.S. with maternal mortality and morbidity — and clearly discusses how black women are at significantly higher risk for complications and are less likely to be believed when things go wrong.
As a senator, she advocated for maternal health legislation. In 2019, she sponsored the Maternal CARE Act, which called for grants to address implicit bias in maternal health care. In 2020, she introduced a bill aimed at addressing maternal health outcomes for marginalized populations. She also co-sponsored bills addressing access to birth control and funding for uterine fibroid care.
During her time as California attorney general, Harris also filed a lawsuit against an anti-abortion group that secretly made videos of abortion providers.
Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said Harris is likely among the most, if not the most, pro-abortion rights candidates ever nominated by a major political party.
“If Harris wins, it could have a profound impact on how we deal with abortion rights, because it will show that a more unashamed, wholehearted embrace of reproductive rights can lead to political wins and overcoming other political obstacles,” said Ziegler, one of the nation’s leading abortion rights scholars.
Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and co-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 women of color. 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.'”