Harris begins a reproductive rights tour to mark the 51st anniversary of Roe
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Wisconsin Monday morning to host an event in support of abortion rights, while President Biden assembles a task force on reproductive health care in Washington.
Both events are intended to draw attention to the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, and to announce new steps the Biden administration has taken to increase access to support abortion since the court struck. in 2022.
“Even as Americans — from Ohio to Kentucky to Michigan to Kansas to California — have resolutely rejected efforts to limit reproductive freedom, Republican elected officials continue to push for a national ban and devastating new restrictions across the country,” Biden said in a statement speech. rack. “Vice President Harris and I are fighting today and every day to protect women's reproductive freedom.”
Ms. Harris, who has become the administration's most outspoken defender of abortion rights, chose Wisconsin as the setting for the first in a series of events on abortion rights that her office has planned across the country this spring. Kirsten Allen, the vice president's press secretary, said Ms. Harris' office had planned several more stops over the next two to three months in “states that have established protections, restricted access and states that continue to threaten access, causing mayhem and mayhem.” confusion.”
Wisconsin is crucial to Mr. Biden's reelection prospects — he won there by about 20,600 votes in 2020 — and recent polls indicate a close race in 2024. It was also a target of former President Donald J. Trump's efforts to suppress falsehoods about spreading illegal practices. vote in 2020.
But Democrats are hoping that a string of victories for abortion rights advocates in Wisconsin could signal a broader trend ahead of the general election. In April, Wisconsin voters elected a liberal candidate to the state Supreme Court by an 11-point margin. In September, Planned Parenthood began offering abortions again after a judge ruled that an 1849 state ban against them — which Roe declared invalid until it fell — was unenforceable.
Back in Washington, the administration's reproductive rights task force on Monday announced what officials said were new steps to help Americans obtain contraceptives, including new guidance meant to clarify standards for federal workers' insurers. It also released a letter issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra that will inform private insurers of their obligation to provide contraceptives to those they serve.
The Department of Health and Human Services will also issue guidance for patients experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies to better understand their rights to care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA. The law requires hospital emergency rooms to provide medically necessary care in urgent circumstances, including abortions. The department will also “provide training materials for healthcare providers and establish a dedicated team of experts” to support hospitals across the country, according to a fact sheet distributed by the administration.
These efforts could contribute to the legal challenges surrounding the administration's efforts to promote access to abortion. The government is already engaged in legal battles with Texas and Idaho over whether the law provides for this procedure. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Idaho case.
The president and vice president plan to continue trying to draw a contrast between Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion and contraception and the Biden administration's efforts to frame the issue as one rooted in the protection of personal freedoms.
On Tuesday — the day of the New Hampshire primary — Ms. Harris will join Mr. Biden at an abortion rights rally in Virginia, where Democrats recently took control of the legislature and proposed to enshrine protection against abortion in the state constitution. Jill Biden, the first lady, and Doug Emhoff, Ms. Harris' husband, will also attend.