Vice President Kamala Harris’ willingness to speak freely abortion Experts say Monday, a day later, could be a turning point in the national conversation about women’s health President Joe Biden has announced that he will not seek re-election.
“She’s talking about abortion rights and she’s unapologetic about it,” said Kelly Baden, vice president of public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, a nongovernmental research organization dedicated to expanding reproductive rights. “It makes the connection between all aspects of reproductive health and abortion rights.”
Study after study has shown that lack of access to abortion care has far-reaching health consequences.
States with strict abortion policies have higher rates infant and maternal mortality. Women living in those states Less likely to enter OB/GYNs there is even an option to pay for meetings. And more and more medical students are saying abortion laws are it keeps them away from building a career such as doctors in states where the procedure is prohibited.
Harris during many campaign trips this year, including a Visit Planned Parenthood in St. Paul, Minnesota in March. He is the first vice president (or president) to visit an abortion clinic.
“Vice President Harris has made this an incredibly important part of his work on the campaign trail. That means it’s going to get more attention,” said Christina Reynolds, senior vice president of communications and content at EMILY’s List, an organization that supports abortion rights women in politics.
Harris is not yet the Democratic presidential nominee. If that happens, experts expect it will hinge on the connection between abortion rights and women’s health.
“I expect him to focus on one issue: abortion,” said Drew Altman, CEO of KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues. According to Altman, KFF polls find the issue “energizes voters more than anything else,” especially in key battleground states like Arizona.
Jolynn Dellinger, a senior lecturer at Duke Law in Durham, North Carolina, said Harris was “very comfortable talking about the extreme results we saw as a result of Dobbs.”
“He attributes the inability to get abortion care in states that have criminalized abortion to the closing of clinics that provide other types of care, so now people can’t get that kind of care,” she said. On the findings of the Dobbs Jackson Women’s Health Organization, where the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Biden, on the other hand, He didn’t even use the word “abortion”. he addressed reproductive rights in his most recent state of the union address. (Although he supports abortion rights, Biden has said in the past that his His Catholic faith worries him by abortion.)
And the issue got it a few notes Recently at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Eric, the son of former President Donald Trump, seemed to brush off the topic of abortion when NBC’s TODAY host Savannah Guthrie asked him about the Republican platform no longer calling for a federal abortion ban.
“At the end of the day, there are real holes in the roof of this country. And you need to fix those holes and stop worrying about that little spot on the wall in the basement,” he said.
However, the platform still includes language The 14th Amendment states that states are “free to make laws protecting these rights.” pushing for fetal identityanti-abortion advocates often quote the amendment, which states that “no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, suggested during the 2022 debate that support a national ban on abortion. This spring, however, he said states should have the final say on abortion policies.
Kristan Hawkins, president of the anti-abortion group Student Action for Life, said in a statement that Eric Trump’s response was “disappointing,” adding that the movement’s “biggest opponents are the abortion bullies who run Washington under the Democratic Party. rule.”
“Still, the GOP can and should do better,” he said.
Roe v. After Wade was repealed, voters supported him protection of abortion rights in response to ballot measures in at least seven states. This year, at least six states they will have abortion rights measures on their ballots. Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media and policy for Student Life Action, said she sees the initiatives as an effort to strengthen the Democratic ticket. But he expects measures that will also mobilize voters against abortion rights.
“I think one consequence of Biden leaving the race is that Democrats want more abortions and Republicans want less, we believe and hope,” Hamrick said.
If Harris is the Democratic nominee, the GOP will likely be forced to address the abortion issue.
KFF’s Altman said talking about abortion access has been Harris’ “winning card” so far. “I expected to see him pack it in pretty well.”