Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday became the highest-ranking U.S. official to tour an abortion clinic.
Ms. Harris’ appearance at the Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic highlighted the Biden administration’s full embrace of abortion rights ahead of the November election, an embrace Democrats hope will once again help them at the polls.
“I’m here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like, which is to understand that it is only right and fair that people have access to the health care they need, and that they have access to an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect,” Ms. Harris said.
“And please do understand when we talk about clinics like this it is absolutely about health care and reproductive health care.”
Ms. Harris’ appearance attracted a couple dozen anti-abortion protestors who welcomed her with signs that read: “Planned Parenthood = Abortion” and “Abortion is not healthcare.”
Democrats have notched a series of high-profile electoral wins following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade, which galvanized pro-choice activists and women across the country.
President Biden and Democrats are hoping the issue of abortion helps strengthen their political fortunes this fall and overcome weak polling numbers for the White House. In his State of the Union Address last week, Mr. Biden promised that if voters send him more pro-choice reinforcements in the November election: “I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again!”
“Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Mr. Biden said. “They found out though when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, and 2023, and they will find out again, in 2024.”
Meanwhile, first lady Jill Biden, in a social media post this week with singer Christina Aguilera, lamented how many conservative state legislatures in the post-Roe world adopted “abortion bans” that Mrs. Biden said are “threatening the health and lives of women across the country.”
“I will not let my daughter live in a world where politicians make decisions about her body,” Ms. Aguilera added.
On Thursday, it was Ms. Harris’s turn to highlight the abortion rights issue.
The Planned Parenthood visit was part of a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour that the administration is using to shine a light on the “extreme” abortion bans that Republicans have passed on the state level and to warn GOP lawmakers want to tighten federal restrictions as well if they score major gains in November.
Ms. Harris applauded state lawmakers in Minnesota for moving in the opposite direction, helped by state-level Democratic victories.
“In Minnesota, with the reelection of the governor and the turning of the state legislature, is what has led to ensuring that these fundamental rights are intact and are protected,” Ms. Harris said. “Elections matter.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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