Harris, once Biden’s voice on abortion, would openly advocate for health • Rhode Island Current

Throughout his presidency, Joe Biden relied on outspoken former prosecutor and Senator Kamala Harris, whom he nominated as his vice president to be the voice of unwavering support for reproductive health rights in the White House.

Now, as Democrats revamp their presidential nomination just months before Election Day, one would widely expect Harris to take an aggressive stance in support of abortion access if she became the party’s new presumptive nominee — attacking former President Donald Trump on an issue that could undermine his chances of victory. Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday when he announced his withdrawal from the race.

While Biden wanted to keep the issue of abortion at the center of his re-election campaign, abortion advocates expressed doubts that the president – a practicing Catholic who says he is not a “big pro-life advocate” – could be an effective representative as Republican efforts make access to abortion and other forms of health care more difficult for women across the country.

Harris, on the other hand, was the first vice president to visit a Planned Parenthood Federation of America clinic. She went on a national tour on reproductive rights. And when Senator JD Vance of Ohio was named Trump’s running mate, Harris used her next campaign appearance to criticize him for blocking protections for assisted reproduction.

“Most importantly, Harris would be the face of the campaign to protect abortion rights,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonprofit health information organization that includes KFF Health News, said in an interview before Biden resigned. “Abortion access would likely be at the center of her campaign.”

Her strong stance on abortion is not the only major contrast Harris offers with Republicans: she is also well-versed in health policy. As a child, Harris often accompanied her mother to work on weekends and visited the lab where she researched breast cancer.

Experts say political rhetoric about third-trimester abortions is misleading

During her 2019 presidential campaign, she supported Medicare for All, a national health insurance proposal that earned her a reputation as a more progressive voice on health policy. And as California’s attorney general, she fought against health care consolidation, fearing it would drive up prices.

In April, she pushed for a Biden administration rule that would set a minimum staffing level in government-funded nursing homes.

“She deserves credit, she talked about it on the campaign trail. I don’t see any change in the Democrats’ priorities on health care reform if she is nominated,” said Debbie Curtis, vice president at McDermott + Consulting.

An increased focus on women’s health and abortion could help mobilize Democratic voters in the final stretch of the election. As the three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump have helped Roe v. Wade In 2022, public opinion has turned against Republicans on the abortion issue, even contributing to a worse-than-expected result in the 2022 midterm elections.

According to a Gallup poll conducted in May, 32 percent of voters said they would only vote for a candidate for major office who shared their views on abortion, a record high since Gallup first asked the question in 1992. Nearly twice as many voters who support abortion hold that view as those who oppose abortion.

According to an April poll by the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of adults said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Thirty-six percent said it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Republicans, for their part, are eager to distance themselves from their own victory on the issue. Trump angered some of his supporters by saying he would leave abortion decisions to the states.

Regardless, supporters warn that the Republicans’ new moderation by omission on the issue masks their more extreme stance. Vance has made clear his support for a national abortion ban in the past. And while the Republican platform adopted at the convention last week does not explicitly call for a nationwide abortion ban, the party leadership’s recognition of “fetal personhood,” the idea that an egg becomes a person with full legal rights once fertilized, would automatically justify such a ban if the Supreme Court finds it constitutional.

These views conflict with those of many Republicans, especially women. According to a recent national poll conducted by KFF, about half of Republican voters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And the majority of Republican-voting women believe abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest or a pregnancy emergency.

If Harris were to lead the candidacy, she would be expected to continue to doggedly advocate these issues in the coming months.

“It’s been one of, if not the most important issue she’s emphasized in the last year or two,” said Matthew Baum, Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications at Harvard University. “Obviously, Republicans are trying to defuse the issue. For them, it’s been a disaster.”

However, it is likely that Republicans would portray Harris’ views on abortion as extremist. During the presidential debate against Biden, Trump falsely claimed that Democrats supported abortions late in pregnancy, “even after birth.”

Shortly after it was announced that Biden had endorsed Harris, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America released a statement criticizing Harris’ record and offering evidence of what was to come. “While Joe Biden has trouble saying the word abortion, Kamala Harris is screaming it,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president.

Some pollsters say Harris needs to do more than just fight Republican efforts to restrict access to abortion to truly engage voters, with so many issues like inflation, the economy and immigration vying for attention.

Sensational cases before the US Supreme Court

“She must say that she is running for a federal law that Roe v. Wade,” said Robert Blendon, professor emeritus of public health at Harvard University. “It needs something very concrete and clear.”

Harris’ rise to the top of the candidate list would come at a critical time in the fight for reproductive rights.

The Supreme Court heard two abortion cases during the term that ended this month. The justices did not address the merits of either case, but rather ruled on technicalities. Both cases are expected to return to the Supreme Court as early as next year.

In a case challenging the FDA’s 2000 approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, the justices ruled that the group of anti-abortion activists and medical professionals who had challenged the drug lacked standing because they could not prove that they had been personally harmed by the drug’s availability.

But the Supreme Court has sent the case back to the district court in Texas, where it was filed, and the Republican attorneys general of three states — Idaho, Kansas and Missouri — have joined the case as plaintiffs. Whether the courts will accept the states as potential challengers remains to be seen, but if they do, the justices could soon be asked again to decide the fate of the abortion pill.

The other abortion case pitted a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care against Idaho’s strict ban, which allows abortions when a pregnant patient’s life is in danger, but not when it is necessary to protect her health, including her future fertility.

In this case, the justices apparently failed to reach a majority agreement. Instead, they said it was premature to accept the case and send it back to the lower court for further consideration. This case, too, could come back relatively soon.

Harris would also have plenty of room to talk about the Biden administration’s key health policy accomplishments, including the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits designed to make it easier for consumers to buy health insurance and extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act, the $35-a-month cap on some patients’ copayments for insulin, and Medicare drug price negotiations.

“I think she’s well positioned. She’s a core part of the government and will be able to take credit for these successes,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase.

Still, it may be difficult for any candidate to draw voters’ attention to some of these successes, particularly efforts to lower drug prices.

Although the government has taken some important steps, “new expensive drugs keep coming onto the market,” Mendelson said. “So when you look at consumer perception, they don’t believe that drug costs are going down.”

Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute said Harris would likely say the Biden-Harris administration is “already saving people money” on insulin. But it needs to go beyond those successes and double down on drug pricing and other cost issues — and not just talk about reproductive rights.

“If she wants to win, she needs to focus on issues that have broad appeal,” Antos said. “Cost is one, and access to treatment is another big issue.”

Samantha Young of KFF Health News contributed to this report.