Reproductive rights groups were quick to throw their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, after President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Harris instead.
Harris could be a stronger advocate for reproductive health care than Biden, who has been hesitant to speak directly about abortion during his presidency. Biden, a devout Catholic, has said he is “not pro-abortion” and opposed abortion when he first became a senator, but his views have changed over the years.
“We’re incredibly excited that someone who’s been such a longtime fighter for abortion rights could be at the top of the Democratic presidential field,” Norbez Flynt, president of the All In Action Fund, a group that supports public insurance coverage for abortion, told WIRED in an interview.
Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, a nonprofit that provides information on self-managed, medication-assisted abortion at home, told WIRED that she expects Harris to provide “strong leadership” on reproductive rights and put forward a “bold plan” to restore legal access to abortion.
“Abortion rights advocates would undoubtedly be thrilled to have a candidate who speaks so strongly about access to reproductive health care,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president of health policy at KFF, a nonprofit health policy group, told WIRED in an email.
Abortion access has declined across the United States following the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of anti-abortion laws. Roe v. WadeThree justices appointed by former President Donald Trump — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — were among the five who wrote the majority opinion to reverse the 50-year-old landmark case that upheld abortion rights. eggThe ruling paved the way for states to ban abortion altogether, and more than a dozen states have now done so.
Since the decision, VP Harris has become a voice for reproductive rights in the Biden Administration. In January, VP Harris embarked on a national tour to highlight the harms of state abortion bans. In her opening speech, VP Harris recounted the events that inspired her to become a prosecutor specializing in crimes against women and children in high school, when she learned one of her best friends had been sexually abused by her stepfather.
In her speech, she called access to abortion a “healthcare crisis” and told the story of Megan and Joe, a Wisconsin couple who found out they were pregnant and their unborn child had a severe genetic disorder that put Megan’s life at risk. Megan was unable to access an abortion in Wisconsin and ultimately had to travel to Minnesota for treatment.
At the event, Harris said the Biden administration is fighting to protect women’s access to reproductive health care. “We trust women. We trust women to make decisions about their own bodies. We trust women to know what is in their best interest,” she said.
