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While there are many reasons why Kamala Harris may be better positioned than Joe Biden to defeat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election, including her relative youth and the fact that she’s a former prosecutor challenging convicted felons, her biggest advantage may be her record on abortion. Harris has been the Biden administration’s de facto champion of reproductive rights. She is the voice, not Biden’s, that opposes abortion bans and abortion protections. A conservative approach Reduce In Vitro Fertilization and contraception. by White Houseshe only He was the first vice president to officially visit an abortion clinic, and as a senator he famously grilled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on abortion. ask “Can you think of any law that would give the government the power to make decisions about men’s bodies?” I asked him. (He couldn’t think of any.)
As California Attorney General, Harris investigated Anti-abortion activists, posing as researchers from biopharmaceutical companies, illegally recorded edited videos implying that Planned Parenthood sells fetal parts. (After Harris left the Attorney General’s office for the Senate, successor Criminal charges were filed and Planned Parenthood ultimately Winner Harris is facing more than $2 million in damages in a lawsuit against activists, and it doesn’t help that she’s facing off against a notorious misogynist who chose as her running mate a man who, as recently as 2022, had said he supported a nationwide abortion ban.
In her short time as a presidential candidate, Harris has already re-energized Democrats, especially abortion rights advocates, with abortion rights groups issuing statements of praise. Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL) and EMILY’s List, Planning A Harris nominee would give Democrats an opportunity to make reproductive choice a central issue in the 2024 campaign — and that might be enough to win.
The Supreme Court is made up of justices appointed by President Trump. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization In 2022, Americans support Public support for abortion rights has soared to its highest level since Gallup began measuring abortion attitudes in 1995. In the past two years, Seven StatesCitizens have been asked, including in Republican-leaning states, to vote directly on laws to expand or restrict abortion rights, and each time, abortion rights have won. One in ten Americans Abortion should be illegal under all circumstances. believe Jesus will return to Earth in their lifetime. Republican lawmakers in some states have voted in favor of at least abortion rights. Try While he continues to push unpopular abortion bans through Congress and the courts, he seeks to make it more difficult, or even impossible, for Americans to vote on direct ballot propositions and constitutional amendments.
The abortion ban has forever changed the lives of countless American women, but it’s also been a political gift to Democrats, one of the few advantages they have this year, with voters clearly expressing dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, the border and security, all of which have dragged down Biden’s approval rating. vote A poll in early July (before Biden withdrew) showed Trump receiving more voter trust on issues related to the border, the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and crime and security. But abortion was the issue on which Trump received the least trust and Biden received the most trust.
And that’s a poll Joe BidenFor much of his career, he was at best uncomfortable with abortion rights and at worst hostile. As a junior senator, he Complain The Supreme Court has gone too far Roe v. WadeIn the 1990s, he bragged about voting in several elections. 50 times She opposes federal funding of abortion, saying in 2006 that she “does not view abortion as a choice or a right.”
By 2012, Biden was emphasizing his support for a woman’s right to choose. As Barack Obama’s running mate, he maintained his belief that life begins at conception, but said he “refuses to impose that on others.” And he was quick to point out that the Supreme Court has upheld the right to choose. egg During his presidency, he called on Congress to codify that right into law, but to this day he avoids even uttering the words. abortion, Fly it His performance in the June 27 debate hit a low point when he undermined the premise of an easily winnable question on abortion. eggBiden has struggled to denounce Trump’s (non-existent) fantasy of abortion even after birth, saying the abortion “deal” was at least partly about “young women being raped by their stepparents.” When Florida banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Biden gave a lengthy speech in Tampa, abortion He only did it twice and then moved on to other questions. POLITICO Analysis: The following week, Harris spoke exclusively about reproductive rights when she appeared at a Biden campaign event in Jacksonville, saying: abortion 15 times.
Trump, like Biden, has proven flexible on abortion policy. seesaw He went from “I’m very pro-abortion” in 1999 to “I’m against abortion” in 2011. In 2016, he said that if abortion were illegal, women who have abortions “should have some form of punishment” (then quickly reversed his stance), and more recently: He himself “The most pro-life president in American history” I boasted. He said, “I could kill Roe v. WadeBut this year, public opinion is so strongly opposed to abortion restrictions that even Trump, who was confident in 2016 that voters would turn a blind eye to abolishing abortion restrictions, Someone shot someone on Fifth Avenue.has pressured the party to scale back its anti-abortion statements in its 2024 platform. Trump didn’t mention abortion once during his record-length convention speech, though he did have time to speak at length about Dr. Hannibal Lecter and the possibility of holding the Republican National Convention in Venezuela.
The silent strategy might have worked if the Trump-Biden race had continued, but Harris emerged as the nominee and Trump chose staunch anti-abortion JD Vance as his running mate. Vance has softened his stance since becoming Trump’s running mate, but he had previously voiced support for anti-abortion causes. Nationwide ban As for abortion (which I acknowledge is not possible in the current political climate), State Law A law making the procedure illegal, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Against these candidates, and with such single-issue dominance, it is in the Democrats’ best interest to talk constantly about abortion. Abortion is not the only issue voters care about, and it is certainly not the issue they care about most, so it would be remiss for Harris to make it the sole focus of her campaign. Democrats have touted many of the successes of a Biden administration, including salvaging the post-COVID economy, investing heavily in infrastructure, and overseeing a drop in the murder rate.
But a focus on abortion and reproductive freedom offers Democrats a rare opportunity to win over swing voters and elect staunchly pro-abortion Democrats: 41% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters, and more than a quarter of self-described conservative Republicans, say abortion should generally be legal. Pew Research Center survey It was carried out in April. The Wall Street Journal vote Since March, 39% of suburban women in battleground states have chosen abortion as the issue that matters more than any other choice, and the issue dovetails quite nicely with the rest of the (narrow) Democratic Party platform, as many appear to view abortion through the lens of health, family, and personal freedom. Strengths: Access to health care and protecting democracy from the threat of tyranny during President Trump’s second term.
A Democrat like Harris, who speaks forcefully and passionately about abortion rights, is the ideal foil for Trump and Vance. In a country where anger over abortion bans runs deep, Harris’s position is strong. A candidate who can galvanize voters in support of abortion rights is exactly what Republicans fear and Democrats need. If Harris can make reproductive freedom a pillar of her campaign, she could finally be the woman who breaks the glass ceiling in presidential elections and keeps a Democrat in the White House.
