Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a lead role in the Biden administration’s efforts to highlight abortion rights after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, picking up the mantle on a major issue animating Democratic voters in the November elections.
By hitting the road to turn out her party’s base, Harris, the first female, South Asian, and black vice president, is leaning into a time-worn vice presidential tradition. And polls show Democratic enthusiasm rising since the court’s ruling as party leaders use the issue to blunt a Republican advantage.
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But Harris bristled at the idea of leading the charge on abortion at first, people who have spoken with her told CNN.
“Harris was initially reluctant to be the face of the administration’s efforts to champion abortion rights, recoiling from the assumption that she had to be simply because she is the highest-profile woman in Democratic politics,” the outlet reported.
That changed, with Harris now “planning to focus on it” as she works to boost Democrats in the midterm elections, the report said.
A former Harris aide suspected the perceived aversion was a hesitancy to speak out on an issue before grasping its full scope.
The vice president was outspoken soon after a draft ruling leaked in May, slamming the decision during an event that same month for EMILY’s List, a Democratic fundraising group that supports female candidates who back abortion rights.
“How dare they?” Harris repeated at the time. “How dare they?”
Later that month, she condemned the ruling as a “war on women’s rights.”
In recent weeks, the White House has issued week-ahead guidance for Harris, detailing a schedule packed with outreach, including events with civil rights leaders on abortion issues, to tout the White House’s sweeping climate and healthcare bill or appearing with Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA) at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute event.
Harris doesn’t always use the word “abortion” when discussing the issue.
While speaking to a National Baptist Convention in Houston, the vice president instead talked about “extremists [working] to take away the freedom of women to make decisions about their own bodies.”
“Faith leaders are taking a stand, knowing one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held religious beliefs to agree that a woman should have the ability to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do,” Harris continued. The vice president invoked God nearly a dozen times.
Harris’s renewed effort comes “even as many candidates keep their distance from her,” CNN said.
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Like Biden, Harris’s approval ratings have suffered after nearly two years in office. A Los Angeles Times national tracking poll gives the vice president a net rating of negative 14 percentage points as of Sept. 6, with 53% of voters holding an unfavorable opinion of Harris, compared to 39% with a favorable opinion.
But as Harris and Democrats seize on the court’s ruling to fire up the base, the issue alone may be enough to stoke enthusiasm and move the needle.
