Vice President Kamala Harris, who has taken nearly a dozen trips around the country to highlight Democrats’ fight for abortion rights, on Friday made her first political appearance on the issue, participating in a campaign event for Ilinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Harris has become the Biden administration’s foremost voice on reproductive rights, and the trip to Chicago Friday marks her tenth time traveling to address the topic, not counting a handful of events in Washington, D.C.
Her first stop in Chicago was a roundtable with local leaders and reproductive health advocates.
“We must agree that the women of America have the ability to exercise their own judgment in making decisions about their own body, and the government should not be making that decision for her,” Harris said, with Pritzker sitting to her left.
Harris later joined Gov. Pritzker at a political event at the University of Illinois. Pritzker is up for reelection and running against Republican state senator Darren Bailey, who carries the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
"I reject candidates that believe in the big lie and stand with Donald Trump," Pritzker said as he introduced Harris during Friday's event. "Darren Bailey wants to divide Illinois with anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and a radical agenda. In 2022, folks, hate is on the ballot – and hate has no home in Illinois."
It was a message reiterated by the vice president, who touched not only on the issue of reproductive rights, but also civil and voting rights as well.
"I've been traveling the country and I can tell you, from everything I know about your opponent, he is one of the most extreme anti-choice candidates in the country," Harris said of Bailey, saying to cheers: "If you believe women's rights are fundamental to America, that immigrant justice is fundamental to America, that LGBTQ rights are fundamental to America – vote for Democrats."
The VP called the governor “a national leader” on abortion rights at the earlier roundtable event. Illinois has become a sort of safe haven, since neighboring states’ conservative leaders have moved to restrict the service.
Harris immediately turned to the political implications of potential Republican leadership: “Elections matter. We have a midterm coming up in 53 days. Who your governor is matters. Whether they're going to protect these rights, and support these rights, to freedom and liberty, it matters.”
She also said lower level elections, such as local prosecutor races, are key, since they are who could be in charge of court challenges to abortion rights.
At the same time, the Biden administration has been clear: Congress needs to act to solidify protections for abortion rights nationwide.
So how do Harris’ trips around the country help the issue? She’s brought back advice and local strategies for defending abortion access that have helped inform the administration, said Jen Klein, co-chair of the White House Gender Policy Council.
“Everyone from constitutional law experts to, you know, women actually just trying to get a medical service that's legal in their state. And all of that has informed the work that we've done,” she said.
“Those meetings that she's been having across the country have been vital, critical, critical to helping inform the work that we're doing,” she added. “And I also think helpful to them as they're planning their strategy, about how to push back in the weeks to come.”
This week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced with little other GOP backing a bill that would outlaw abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Democrats seized on the opportunity, calling it clear evidence of Republicans’ ultimate desire to pass a national ban, despite previous comments from GOP lawmakers who insisted it should be up to the states to decide.
"I'll remind you that when the United States Supreme Court decided Dobbs, Republican Party leaders started by saying, 'let the states decide,' but then just this week introduced a nationwide ban on abortion," Harris said of the newly-proposed bill. "So they're already moving the goalposts."
Harris went on to stress the importance of voting for down-ballot Democrats in the upcoming midterms, saying the slight edge the party has in Congress – and its ability to push through legislation – will depend on the November elections.
"Justice Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud. In the Dobbs decision, his piece of it was to say basically, marriage equality is on the line. Contraception is on the line," she said, referencing Thomas' concurring opinion saying the court should also reconsider other due process cases. "So see what is happening and what is at play here. See it clearly. We've got to hold on to our numbers in the House and the Senate, because without Democratic majorities in Congress, the writing on the wall seems to be pretty clear about what other rights they'll also come after."
Klein told Spectrum News that the vice president and president would continue to speak “about it in all sorts of forum over the course of the next weeks and months.”
“The laws that we're seeing across the country are really out of step,” she said. “We're expecting that the American people are going to make their voices heard in the weeks and months to come.”
Harris has so far traveled to Boston, California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia to speak to local leaders and advocates on abortion rights, plus held meetings on the White House campus.