Vice President Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota on Thursday, an important and symbolic visit as she advocated for women's access to reproductive health care following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Harris was the first sitting president or vice president to visit a facility that offers abortion services with her visit to the St. Paul clinic.
“I am here at this health care clinic to support the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what genuine leadership looks like,” she said after a tour of the facility. “It is only right and fair that people have access to the health care they need, and that they have access to health care in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Harris highlighted that the clinic provided abortion care, contraceptive care, and breast cancer screenings, all of which are crucial for women’s health. She cautioned that access to such care was becoming increasingly challenging in certain states that have restricted abortion access and cut funding, leading to the closure of similar clinics and causing women to travel out of state for abortions.
“The work that happens here is about helping women who do not live in Minnesota because sadly, this state exists in a neighborhood where laws have been passed to deny people reproductive health care,” Harris said.
“In this environment, these attacks against an individual’s right to make decisions about their own body are outrageous and, in many instances, just plain old immoral,” she added. “How dare these elected leaders think they are in a better position to tell women what they need. To tell women what’s in their best interest. We need to be a country that believes in women.”
The Minnesota trip was part of Harris’s post-State of the Union travel, during which she emphasized the fight for abortion rights and the White House’s legislative achievements. It is also part of her broader “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, during which she has specifically focused on the issue of abortion, set to play a significant role in November’s election.
Democrats have achieved significant electoral victories since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, including in the Kentucky gubernatorial race, Virginia legislative races, and in ballot measures in Ohio and Kansas to protect abortion.
Minnesota passed a law in 2022 safeguarding the right to reproductive freedom, including abortion, contraception, and fertility services. Abortion is safeguarded by the state constitution.
However, other states have restricted abortion following the Supreme Court ruling, and the Alabama Supreme Court last month raised questions about access to in vitro fertilization after ruling that frozen embryos were people.
President Biden’s campaign has linked the Alabama ruling and other states’ efforts to restrict abortion directly to former President Trump, who is the presumptive GOP nominee for November. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for ending Roe v. Wade due to his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices.
