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Abortion Rights Activists Turn to VP Harris For Midterm Election Help

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Abortion rights activists are looking to Vice President Kamala Harris for help in their cause.

They are not looking to her to save abortion rights, as the Supreme Court appears to be prepared to end Roe V Wade and the vice president does not have the power to stop them, but they want her help to make abortion a voting issue in the November midterms, USA Today reported.

“I can’t think of another more important, pressing issue for the vice president to take on,” Ashley Etienne, a former Harris communications director, said. “She has that opportunity to go out and make that case that we have to be very vigilant about protecting and defending not just our rights, but our democracy.”

They believe that if the vice president, who is a longtime abortion rights champion, is at the helm it could help energize women, young voters and voters of color.

“We know women of color in particular are disproportionately affected and will be disproportionately affected by abortion bans and what we’re going to see out of the court,” Mini Timmaraju, the NARAL Pro-Choice America President said. “She’s got a unique voice as a result to really mobilize a critical constituency that we need to get excited about the midterm elections.”

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“The most effective person that can go on the road for us at this juncture is someone who happens to be a former attorney general whose job was to protect our rights,” Maria Teresa Kumar, the  Voto Latino president, and EMILY’s List board member, said. “She understands these nuances and can communicate them in a way that reminds people that there’s a political malaise of what’s happening but the erosion of our rights is very real.”

The vice president spoke at an EMILY’s List gala in May about abortion rights.

“Now, at this very moment, Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land.  But let’s talk about what a world without Roe looks like,” the vice president said.

“Women in almost half the country could see their access to abortion severely limited.  In 13 of those states, women would lose access to abortion immediately and outright,” she said.

“Those Republican leaders who are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women — well, we say, “How dare they!”  How dare they tell a woman what she can do and cannot do with her own body.  (Applause.)  How dare they!  How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future!  How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms.

You know, three years ago, when I was a United States senator, I asked a question: “Can you think of any laws that give the government power to make decisions about the male body? And the response, you’ll recall, was essential: ‘Can’t think of any,’” the vice president said.

“So, when we look at the big picture, those who attack Roe have been clear.  They want to ban abortion in every state.  They want to bully anyone who seeks or provides reproductive healthcare.  And they want to criminalize and punish women for making these decisions.

“At its core, Roe recognizes the fundamental right to privacy.  Think about that for a moment.  When the right to privacy is attacked, anyone in our country may face a future where the government can interfere with their personal decisions — not just women; anyone,” she said.

“And it has never been more clear which party wants to expand our rights and which party wants to restrict them.  It has never been more clear,” the vice president said.

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“It has never been more clear which party wants to lead us forward and which party wants to push us back.  You know, some Republican leaders — they want to take us back to a time before Roe v. Wade, back to a time before Obergefell v. Hodges, back to a time before Griswold v. Connecticut.

“But we’re not going back.  We are not going back. Because at our core, the strength of our country is that we fight to move forward,” she said.

Democratic strategist and NARAL board member Karen Finney believes that the vice president is the correct person to lead them.

“She is someone standing up in this moment who has both a platform and the depth of knowledge and body of work and relationships with the movement to be a critically important leader and a leader for the administration,” she said.

Everett said that President Joe Biden can “absolutely be a leading voice” on the issue. “He doesn’t get a pass because this has been an uncomfortable issue for him in the past.”

“But I do think that it is smart politics and smart everything else to have Kamala lead on this and be the authentic voice on it,” she said.

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