Harris says Michigan will lose abortion rights under Trump • Michigan Advance

As the battle for voters’ attention rages in the Michigan presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Portage on Wednesday to reassure Michigan residents that President Joe Biden is the only candidate in the race who will support contraception, abortion and artificial insemination.

“I think most of us agree that we should not allow supposed leaders to do things that harm people,” Harris said at the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in West Michigan. “In the midst of those who are trying to take away individual freedoms, this is not the time to sit back and do nothing; it’s time to roll up our sleeves.”

This is Harris’ fourth visit to Michigan this year, as she last sat down in Detroit in June. Biden’s visit to Detroit last week was also his fourth this year and followed widespread calls within the Democratic Party for him to drop out of the race.

Harris would be one of the favorites to replace Biden if he drops out of the race, although Biden has given no indication he will drop out any time soon. He promised his supporters in Detroit on Friday that he would stay in the race. Biden reiterated during a press conference last Thursday that Harris would be able to assume the presidency if necessary.

Trump’s choice of JD Vance as running mate opens new front in presidential campaign

Harris’ visit coincides with the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, where former President Donald Trump was officially named the Republican nominee on Monday and named U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate. Trump surprised Trump and Vance addressed the RNC audience in person on Monday, two days after an assassination attempt was made on him at his rally in Pennsylvania. Trump and Vance will campaign in Grand Rapids on Saturday.

The shooting was a terrible act of cowardice, Harris said. Unity and respect for others are needed now more than ever as the nation is scarred by this act of political violence.

“The hallmark of American democracy, the hallmark of any democracy, is a fierce competition of ideas, policies and visions of the future. And just as we must reject political violence, we must also engage in a vigorous debate about what is at stake in this election,” Harris said.

Speakers pointed out that abortion rights and other forms of reproductive health care would be in danger under a second Trump presidency. U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) said Vance, with whom Harris could debate during the rest of the campaign, wants a national ban on abortion with no exceptions.

“And I have to tell you, now that Donald Trump has chosen Senator JD Vance as his running mate, there is a clone of him,” Stabenow said.

Stabenow further criticized her Senate colleague, pointing to his views on Social Security, no-fault divorce, reproductive rights and the January 6, 2021 insurrection. She called for support for Biden and Harris, saying “our entire way of life” is on the ballot in November.

Reproductive rights are in danger, Harris said, adding that the autonomy of personal medical decisions is fundamental and must be protected at all costs.

Trump said he was proud to be the person responsible for the repeal. Roe v. Wadewhich established the right to abortion nationwide. He also said that access to abortion should be determined by state governments.

Trump will not manipulate voters so easily, Harris said. The emphasis on “states’ rights” as the driving force behind state-by-state restrictions on access to abortion and contraception harms women and families and puts them in dangerous situations when making decisions about reproductive health care.

While Trump may deny that he wants to ban abortion at the federal level or restrict access to reproductive health care, says Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser in the Trump administration, his plan is clear.

Trump has denied any involvement with Project 2025, a right-wing transition plan put forward by the Heritage Foundation that would fight abortion, dismantle the Department of Education and remove gender and sexual orientation terms from federal law.

However, A Criticism from CNN revealed that 140 former members of the Trump administration, including six former Cabinet members, contributed to Project 2025’s 900-page “Mandate for Leadership.”

“I’m here because I refuse to be silent,” Troye said. “If you don’t believe this is really happening and that they can do it, I can tell you that when I was in the Trump administration, I saw the draft of one of these executive orders.”

Silence is not an option, and the outcome of the election depends on people connecting with their communities and encouraging others to speak out on Election Day – for themselves and for the people they care about.

“Let’s remind people of the connection between their lives and their vote, between their power and the outcome of this election,” Harris said.