Vice President Kamala Harris is taking on a key role in the White House’s attempt to safeguard abortion access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court last month.
Harris plans to go on an aggressive public campaign in support of abortion in the coming months leading up to the 2022 midterm elections, according to Politico. Monday, she’ll deliver a speech in Indiana as the state starts a special legislative session on the issue.
People do not need to abandon their faith to believe women should have the ability to make decisions about their own bodies without government interference.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 25, 2022
The vice president reportedly told staffers she wants to be “out in America” at least three days per week in support of pro-abortion lawmakers, candidates and legislation. Last week, she visited the Josh Shapiro campaign for governor of Pennsylvania, and she’s reportedly held meetings with a number of state lawmakers in recent weeks in states where abortion access has been restricted since the Supreme Court decision.
In June, she hosted seven Democratic state attorneys general at the White House to discuss how they could use their legal authority to combat the overturning of Roe.
The Indiana visit is reportedly just the first of what will be several to red states where Harris plans to call out Republican “extremism.” Despite her sinking approval ratings, state Democrats are welcoming her involvement in their 2022 fights: “If the vice president is willing and interested in doing fundraisers down ballot we would gladly welcome it,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee president Jessica Post told Politico.
The GOP counterpart to the DLCC is welcoming it as well. The Republican State Leadership Committee released a statement Monday calling Harris “the only Democrat in Washington who has been a more disastrous leader than Joe Biden.”
While she was Attorney General of California, Harris worked to thwart the efforts of pro-life activists who filmed undercover at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the state. (RELATED: ‘Just Delete This Honestly’: Fellow Liberals Trash Kamala Harris For Attempting Solidarity)
Abortion isn’t the first issue on which the White House has deployed Harris to lead the administration’s efforts. She was tapped with solving the long-term causes of the ongoing migration crisis at the southern border by President Joe Biden, an issue that has seemingly contributed to her declining approval ratings. So far, little progress has been made in stemming the tide of illegal immigrants crossing the border from Latin America.