Vice President Kamala Harris made history when she became what is believed to be the first president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic Thursday, as the fight over abortion rights has taken center stage since the overturn of Roe v Wade.
Harris met with abortion providers and staff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minneapolis, Minnesota as part of a nationwide tour she has been on since the landmark decision was struck down in 2022.
The vice president has been a tough one abortion rights advocate within the Biden administration, as the issue has proven to be a powerful motivator for voters and is expected to be one of the top issues for Democrats ahead of the November election.
‘Many of you have asked why I am here at this facility in particular and I will tell you that it is because right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis and the crisis is affecting many many people in our country, most of them are frankly suffering in silence,” Harris said during his visit.
This was Harris’ sixth stop on her ‘Fight for Reproductive Freedoms’ tour, which started in Wisconsin to mark the 51st anniversary of Roe in January.
“In states around our country, extremists have proposed and passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive health care,” Harris said.
She went on to slam such elected leaders who ‘think they are in a better position to tell women what they need’.
Vice President Harris has been a fierce advocate for abortion rights in the Biden administration since Roe was overturned and is the first vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic
Harris speaks with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Dr. Sarah Traxler visiting an abortion clinic in Minneapolis
Harris speaks to reporters after visiting the abortion clinic in Minnesota
Anti-abortion protesters outside as the vice president’s motorcade arrived at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota
Harris said she was at the clinic to ‘uplift’ the work going on in Minnesota as an example of true leadership. She said that when she talks about a clinic like the one she visited, it’s ‘absolutely about health care and reproductive health care.’
‘Everyone get ready for the language: the womb. That part of the body needs a lot of medical attention from time to time. Problems like fibroids, we can handle this. Breast cancer screenings, contraception. That’s the kind of work that happens here beyond, of course, abortion care,’ Harris said.
During his visit Thursday, Harris was joined by Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Congresswoman Betty McCollum.
When she arrived, her visit was also met by a handful of anti-abortion protesters holding signs outside.
After Roe fell, the Biden administration has taken several executive actions to help protect access to abortion and the drugs used for abortions, but their efforts have been limited.
President Biden has also called on Congress to pass legislation codifying Roe and protecting abortion rights nationwide, but Democrats have not had the necessary support in Congress to pass a bill.
The White House and the Biden campaign have leaned into the issue ahead of the 2024 election. The re-election campaign began running ads earlier this year featuring a woman who had traveled out of state to get an emergency abortion.
Kate Cox, who went to court to try to get permission for an abortion in Texas, was a guest of First Lady Jill Biden at the president’s State of the Union address last week.
President Biden has blasted his Republican opponent former President Donald Trump, calling him the reason Roe v Wade was overturned after Trump nominated three of the justices who supported the Dobbs decision.
“If you, the American people, send me a Congress that supports the right to vote, I promise you that I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” Biden said during his State of the Union address.
Harris thanked the clinic staff. She said their work is ‘absolutely about healthcare’
During his State of the Union address, President Biden promised to sign a bill codifying Roe v Wade into law if Americans sent him a Congress that could pass the legislation
Harris with Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood North Central States
Harris arrives in Minneapolis ahead of her tour of an abortion clinic
Abortion rights have been a key issue for Democrats since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022
Minnesota is one of several blue states that moved to strengthen abortion rights after Roe came down, while red states have passed several pieces of legislation that further restrict abortion or ban it altogether.
Last January, Governor Walz signed legislation establishing abortion rights in the state as well as strengthening other reproductive health protections.
It was the first state after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision returned the issue to states to take legislative protections.
Surrounded by four states with abortion bans, Minnesota has also become a haven for women seeking abortions in recent years from other states.
The Society for Family Planning, a research organization, found that the average number of abortions in the state increased by 36 percent in the year after the decision.
Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood North Central States, joined Harris during her visit. Traxler discussed how she had helped patients from all over the country, including those from as far away as Texas.
The anti-abortion organization SBA Pro-Life America slammed the vice president ahead of her visit, saying Harris spent ‘his entire career in the pocket of Big Abortion.’
Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in another high-profile case in the abortion fight. That raises the question of whether patients can access mifepristone, a pill commonly used for abortion across the country.