Vice President Kamala Harris has been an outspoken advocate for abortion access and other reproductive rights for years, hosting numerous events within President Joe Biden’s administration well before his landmark decision Sunday to drop out of the race for his party’s nomination for a second term.
In April, she made history by becoming the first sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic and led “The fight for reproductive freedom“a tour in January where I spoke to Americans in key states every month — Michigan, Pennsylvania AND Wisconsin — and states where abortion is banned — Alabama, Arizona AND Florida — on the possibilities of re-electing former President Donald Trump, for example by passing a nationwide abortion ban.
Meanwhile, Biden was often criticized for what activists saw as his lukewarm support for access, often criticizing him for avoiding using the word “abortion” directly. And at the Republican National Convention, speakers from the party and Trump he avoided the topic entirely.
Now that Harris is probable Democratic candidateactivist groups on both sides of the abortion rights debate have he took advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to this issue again.
According to reportsThe nonpartisan voter registration platform Vote.org saw an enhance of 38,500 up-to-date voters in the 48 hours after Biden announced his departure. The organization found that 83% of those up-to-date registrations were from people aged 18 to 34. Harris’ campaign also said it raised $100 million in the first 24 hours and reported over 100,000 volunteers across the country joined the campaign.
Jessica Mackler, president of Emily’s List, a political action committee that helps elect Democratic candidates for abortion rights, said at a news conference Wednesday that their donations also increased after the announcement. The group announced Thursday 2 million dollars program supporting the Harris campaign.
“We knew this election would be decided by abortion rights, but now we have the most powerful advocate for reproductive freedom in the country at the top of the ticket,” Mackler said. “So these issues are going to be even more visible, and that’s how we’re going to win.”
But some abortion rights groups, such as those seeking to introduce state constitutional referendum initiatives seeking to enshrine abortion rights, say Harris’ candidacy is unlikely to impact their campaigns.
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, allowing states to regulate access to abortion, Harris met with state lawmakers from Florida, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota to discuss ways to protect reproductive rights, United States Press Office reported in July 2022. In addition to Indiana, which has since banned most abortions, patient advocates in these states have moved to restore access via referendum.
As many as 11 states could have an abortion-related question on their ballots in November, with five confirmed — Nevada, Colorado, South Dakota, Florida and Maryland. Qualifying efforts are still underway in states including Arizona, Montana, Missouri and Arkansas.
The leaders of the referendum initiative do not expect any effects of changing the nominee
The Fairness Project, a group focused on referendum initiatives, has dedicated organizational resources to initiatives in Arizona, Florida, Montana, and Missouri, and has worked to pass abortion referendum measures in Michigan AND ohio over the last two years.
Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, said the idea that Harris might generate more enthusiasm for initiatives now that she’s in the race is baseless, especially since initiatives that would make abortion access a constitutional right are not contingent on other electoral factors.
“The reason we see so much enthusiasm on important issues like reproductive rights is because there’s a linear relationship between voting and the change you want to see. You don’t have to hope that the person will win, that they’ll prioritize your cause, that you have a friendly Congress, etc.,” Hall said. “There’s a really direct relationship between, ‘I vote in November, and 30 days later, my state has abortion laws again.’”
Ashley All, president of the Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, worked on defeat referendum initiative in 2022 that would allow the state to enact abortion bans in the wake of the Dobbs decision. She has since worked on five other abortion-related initiatives, including in Michigan, KentuckyOhio and Montana.
They all agreed that people see abortion access as a medical and personal issue, not a political one, and while there is an obvious difference between her and the two presidential candidates in terms of who will protect access nationally, the initiatives do not align strictly along partisan lines. Some people end up dividing their ballots along ideological lines, voting for the abortion measure but still electing Republicans to office.
“Based on that, I don’t think referendum initiatives across the country are likely to see a drastic change because of the top of the list,” All said. “That said, since she was nominated, there’s clearly been a drastic change in momentum and enthusiasm, particularly among women and young people.”
Hall said it’s crucial for initiative efforts to remain nonpartisan, especially since many of them take place in Republican-dominated or swing states that need bipartisan coalitions to succeed. That means separating themselves from partisan slogans, language and infrastructure. And to the extent that turnout might be higher in the general election because abortion is a motivating issue for voters, Hall believes that will benefit the Democratic candidate, not the initiative.
“There aren’t enough people who will vote for the Democratic presidential candidate who live in Missouri to win the vote with just those voters,” Hall said. “So in most states where abortion will be on the ballot, the campaign to get out on the ballot has to communicate with a universe of voters that is broader than just the people who will vote for the Democrats at the top of the ticket.”
Harris frequently speaks out against no-exception bans on rape and incest
Harris has repeatedly said Congress should restore the Roe v. Wade ruling, and when asked about it, Stand face to face with the nation in September about when abortion should be restricted, she used the same language. Neither Harris nor Biden have used the phrase “fetal viability” often when discussing abortion, even though the passage Women’s Health Protection Act would allow abortions until the fetus is able to survive the pregnancy, and then only if the patient’s health or life is in danger, consistent with the standard set by the Roe decision.
While serving as California Attorney General, Harris defendant anti-abortion group that was ordered to pay Planned Parenthood more than $2 million in damages after activists secretly recorded videos of abortion providers. Defendants challenged the decision, but last year the Supreme Court rejected to hear their case. Harris has he said inspired to become prosecutor because a close friend in high school was molested by her stepfather. In California, she handled cases involving sex crimes, domestic violence, and child abuse, CalMatters Matters reported.
Today, it is often mentioned that abortion is banned in many states, with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
This spring, Trump said the issue should be left to the states.but he has not said definitively whether he would veto legislation for a nationwide ban or oppose efforts to restrict access to abortion drugs at the federal level. In an interview with TIME magazine three months ago, the Republican nominee said he would issue a policy statement on the issue Comstock Act of 1873dormant statute that abortion rights opponents say should be enforced to ban mailing abortion pills, in two weeks. Trump has not yet expressed his opinion on the 19th-century law. His vice presidential running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, once signed the letter calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to enforce the Act.
Trump’s campaign is also closely related to the 2025 Project, a plan developed by the Heritage Foundation that is supposed to be the blueprint for the next Republican administration. The plan includes banning abortion medications nationwide, requiring states to track more data on who is getting abortions and where, and ending mandatory insurance for emergency contraception.
During a stop in Pennsylvania, Harris said Trump is responsible for the state of abortion laws across the country — Fourteen states have a near-total ban, and three states ban abortion before most people know they are pregnant.Iowa’s six-week ban is also set to go into effect Monday. “If you want to know who’s to blame for where we are now, the finger can be pointed squarely at the former president,” Harris said in May, according to Capital of Pennsylvania-Star“The former president made it very clear and then did what he intended to do: He said he would appoint three members of the Supreme Court of the United States with the intent of undoing the protections of Roe. And they did exactly what he intended to do.”
