By Samantha Waldenberg and Betsy Klein | CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris will go to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota on Thursday, a White House official tells CNN, the first time a sitting US president or vice president is believed to visit an abortion provider.
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The visit will help serve Harris’ efforts to highlight an issue the campaign believes will galvanize moderate voters in November.
The vice president is traveling to Minnesota on the sixth stop of her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, and she is expected to walk through the Planned Parenthood facility and speak with staff about reproductive rights, another White House official says.
Harris began the tour in January in Wisconsin, and she has since held events in California, Georgia, Michigan and Arizona.
Minnesota also marks the fifth state Harris has visited since the president’s State of the Union address last week. Prepared remarks from the president’s address included the word abortion, but the president did not say the word when he delivered the speech.
In 2023, Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law that enshrines the “fundamental right” to access abortion in the state.
The vice president’s visit to Minnesota comes during what the Biden campaign is calling the “March Month of Action” which includes plans for President Joe Biden and Harris to travel to every battleground state this month.
The campaign is also focused on making abortion a centerpiece of its messaging as it seeks to court moderate voters – particularly women.
About half of registered voters in the United States say this year’s elections will have a “major impact” on access to abortion, and about 1 in 8 voters says that abortion is the most important issue driving their vote, according to a new KFF survey.
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