With President Joe Biden exiting the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, Harris’ strong record on key issues, especially reproductive freedom, is coming into focus.
Reproductive rights, a crucial issue in this year’s election, highlight Harris’ long-standing dedication to abortion rights and access to reproductive health care.
Defending Reproductive Rights as California AG and Senator
During her tenure as California attorney general, Harris co-sponsored the Reproductive FACT Act, aimed at safeguarding pregnant women from misleading practices by “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” (CPCs). These centers often present themselves as comprehensive reproductive health care providers but do not offer abortion services and are frequently focused on discouraging women from seeking abortions.
In 2016, Harris, alongside attorneys general from 13 other states, urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that had significantly restricted abortion access in Texas. “Every woman has the right to make informed choices about her health and well-being,” Harris said. “I strongly urge the Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit ruling, which undermines both public health and a woman’s right to choose.”
As a U.S. senator from 2017 to 2020, Harris continued her vigorous defense of reproductive rights. In 2017, she voted against a bill proposed by Senate Republicans to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, calling it “another example of politicians playing politics with health care.” She also co-sponsored legislation to prevent states from restricting abortion rights and voted against an amendment that would have barred federal funding for abortion services.
In 2019, Harris criticized the Trump administration’s gag rule, which sought to block Planned Parenthood from receiving funding through Title X. “In some rural communities, Planned Parenthood is the only place to get low-cost reproductive care — meaning people could suffer longer wait times, higher costs, and a lack of services because of Trump’s gag rule,” she said.
Harris also stood against state-level abortion bans, notably when South Carolina Republicans proposed a 6-week abortion ban. “It’s outrageous South Carolina Republicans are covertly fast-tracking a dangerous bill to ban abortions before most women even know they’re pregnant,” she said.
Harris’ Response to the End of Roe v. Wade
The 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade marked a pivotal moment for Harris, further establishing her as a leading Democratic advocate for reproductive rights. Harris quickly highlighted the significant impact of the ruling. “Millions of women in America will go to bed tonight without access to the health care and reproductive care that they had this morning; without access to the same health care or reproductive health care that their mothers and grandmothers had for 50 years,” she said during a visit to Illinois on the day Roe was overturned.
Throughout 2022, Harris, alongside President Biden, pushed for the restoration of Roe at the federal level. She engaged in more than 50 meetings across at least 16 states with legislators, health care providers, and other advocates. In December 2023, Harris launched her “Fight For Reproductive Freedoms” tour on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The tour aimed to emphasize the effects of Republican-backed abortion bans in key battleground states such as Arizona, Florida, and Nevada.
Earlier this year, Harris made history as the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic, touring a Planned Parenthood facility in Minnesota. During her tour, she underscored the potential consequences of a second Trump term. “Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to overturn Roe. And as he intended, they did,” Harris stated at a Florida event in May. “Here’s what a second Trump term looks like: more bans, more suffering, less freedom.”
On the second anniversary of Roe’s reversal in June, Harris reiterated her criticism of Trump’s impact on reproductive rights. “In the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty,” she said.
As Harris campaigns for the presidency, she is expected to continue highlighting her strong stance on reproductive rights in contrast to Trump’s record. In a statement issued just before Biden’s withdrawal, she affirmed, “Let’s be clear: Donald Trump would sign a national abortion ban and restrict access to contraception if given the chance. That is what’s at stake in November. We will stop him.”
