Vice President Kamala Harris plans to tour a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota that provides abortion services on Thursday, according to three sources familiar with the planning.
Sources said they believed it was the first time a president or vice president had visited the clinic. abortion Services in US history.
Harris plans to tour the clinic and speak with medical staff, sources said. The vice president may also speak to patients, though sources stressed that Harris wants to make sure no services are disrupted during his visit. He could also speak to reporters outside the clinic.
In 2013, former President Barack Obama became the first president to speak out against Planned Parenthood. But Obama made his remarks not at one of his clinics, but at a Planned Parenthood conference in a hotel in Washington.
Harris has emerged as a vocal and prominent advocate for access to abortion for the Biden administration. He sharply attacked the former president Donald Trump and Republicans for supporting abortion restrictions and vowing to push for federal legislation to restore the federal right to abortion.
the president Joe Biden also made the issue of women’s reproductive health an important part of his State of the Union address last week. It was one of the first major issues raised in the speech, a priority for the White House.
The visit will be the sixth stop on the vice president’s “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, which includes Roe v. Wade started in January to gain more access to abortion after his case was overturned.
Sources said his office plans to announce the location of the clinic closer to the time of his visit because his team is worried about the protests.
This is Harris’ third visit to Minnesota as vice president.
The vice president’s office had no comment when reached by NBC News on Tuesday.