Vice President Kamala Harris whipped up support among Democrats fighting for access to abortion in her home state on Monday, lambasting former President Donald Trump and his Republican Party for eroding reproductive rights across the country.
In remarks at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza, the nation’s first woman vice president described the fight for abortion as “fundamentally about freedom,” and urged voters to focus on the issue as the Nov. 5 general election nears.
“We have to hustle over these next 10 months,” said Harris, an Oakland native and California’s former top prosecutor. “We can make a difference on this issue.”
Democrats are hoping the battle over abortion will galvanize women voters for this fall’s election and show the clear distinction between the Biden Administration’s support for reproductive freedoms and the former Republican president’s anti-abortion stance.
The Democratic party is also placing the sole responsibility for the 2022 overturning of Roe vs. Wade on Trump, who appointed three of the conservative judges that helped reverse a nearly half-century of precedent on abortion access. While Trump has described his Supreme Court appointments as one of his greatest achievements, he has distanced himself from further restrictions on abortion, including Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban.
Polls show a wide swath of the female electorate did not agree with the Supreme Court’s decision last year — and some consider it to have worked in Democrats’ favor during the 2022 midterm elections, where many Trump-backed candidates were defeated.
“The former president of the United States hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo Roe,” Harris said. “Let’s be very clear on that.”
San Jose’s rally came as dozens of protestors stood outside the theatre where Harris spoke and denounced the Biden Administration’s support for Israel in the conflict against Hamas, calling for a ceasefire near those lining up to see the vice president. Moments after the vice president joined the stage with actress Sophia Bush, protestors interrupted the event with screams of “ceasefire now,” as audience members chanted over their calls with “four more years.”
The vice president’s visit to Northern California’s largest city is part of her nationwide tour on abortion rights just as Trump appears the likely Republican candidate in November after trouncing his competition this month during the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.
On Monday, the vice president was joined by California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Sen. Laphonza Butler, Sen. Alex Padilla and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
“All I know is, we all got to be in this one,” said Becerra, who also served as California’s attorney general until 2021, about the fight for abortion access. “There is nothing we can leave in our pocket.”
Harris joined President Joe Biden last week in Virginia as part of the tour, which began on the 51st anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. She has already traveled to North Carolina, South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and New York — and will wrap up her tour in March. She urged voters to support candidates who will help codify abortion rights through a bill in Congress, an effort that has yet to garner enough votes from Democrats.
California remains a strong pro-choice state, with Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a slate of bills last fall to strengthen protections for reproductive freedoms. In 2022, over two-thirds of voters passed Proposition 1, which enshrined the right to an abortion and access to contraception into the state’s Constitution.
Though Democrats are unlikely to make a dent on abortion rights any time soon through the Supreme Court, Bay Area residents on Monday said it was clear how supporters of the issue can make a difference: voting.
“It’s about freedom, it’s about rights,” Jennifer Gee said while waiting in line to see Harris. “I mean, there’s nothing more precious than what I do with my body and the discussion I might have with my doctor and the experts who know what that condition is. It’s harming women all over the country. There are doctors leaving states because they can’t practice because they’re afraid of getting arrested for saving a woman’s life.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it will hear oral arguments in March and will make a decision later this year on a case challenging the use of mifepristone, an abortion medication. Conservative advocates are petitioning the court to push back on the recent proliferation of the pill, which the Federal Drug Administration has made available through the mail and over-the-counter at pharmacies in recent years.