Throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, he has relied on the outspoken former prosecutor and senator he chose to run for vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the voice of the White House’s lack of support. reproductive health rights.
Now, as a Democrat rebuild the presidential ticket just a few months before Election Day, Harris will be widely expected to take an aggressive stance in support of abortion access if he is the party’s presumptive new candidate – hitting former President Donald Trump on an issue that could damage his chances of victory. Biden approved Harris there when he announced his decision to leave the race.
As Biden seeks to keep abortion center stage during his re-election bid, abortion advocates have doubts that the president — a practicing Catholic who says he does not “abort” himself — can be an effective standard bearer given Republican efforts to undermine access to abortion and other women’s health care. throughout the country.
Harris, on the other hand, became the first vice president to visit a clinic run by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is doing a national tour focusing on reproductive rights. And when Senator JD Vance of Ohio was named Trump’s running mateHarris used to appear next campaign to criticize him for protection blocks for in vitro fertilization.
“Most importantly, Harris will be the face of protecting abortion rights,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, said in an interview before Biden stepped down. “Abortion access will be front and center in her campaign.”
His strong stance on abortion isn’t the only major contrast to what the GOP is offering Harris: He’s well-versed on health policy. As a child, Harris often accompanied her mother to work on weekends, visiting the lab where she studied breast cancer.
When he became president in 2019, he supported it “Medicare for All,” single-payer insurance proposal that establishes his bona fides as a more progressive voice in health privacy. And as California’s attorney general, he fought consolidation in the health care industry over concerns it would drive up prices.
They are confused about the Biden administration’s rule that set minimum staffing levels in federally funded nursing homes in April.
“He deserves credit, he has talked about them on the campaign trail. I don’t see any change in the priorities of what the Democrats want to do in health care if he becomes the nominee,” said Debbie Curtis, vice president at McDermott + Consulting.
An intensified focus on women’s health and abortion could help Democratic voters in the final sprint to the polls. Since the three Supreme Court justices named by Trump helped overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022public opinion has turned against the Republicans on abortion, even contributing to an unexpected showing in the 2022 midterm elections.
Thirty-two percent of voters said they would vote only for a candidate for a major office who shares his views on abortion, according to a Gallup Poll conducted in May. That’s a record high since Gallup first asked the question in 1992. Nearly twice as many voters who support abortion, compared to those who oppose abortion, have that view.
Sixty-three percent of adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, based on a poll conducted in April by the Pew Research Center. Thirty-six percent said it should be illegal in all or most cases.
Republicans, in turn, have been eager to distance themselves from victory in the issue. Trump angered some members of his base by saying he would leave the decision on abortion up to the states.
Regardless, supporters caution that the GOP’s recent moderation on the issue masks a real, more extreme stance. Vance has been clear about his support for a national abortion ban. And while the GOP platform adopted during the party’s convention last week may not have explicitly called for a nationwide abortion ban, party leaders’ recognition of “fetal personhood,” the idea that once an egg is fertilized it becomes a legal person. rights, would make such a ban automatic if the Supreme Court finds it constitutional.
That view is at odds with many Republicans, especially women. About half of Republican women voters think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a new national survey by KFF. And the majority of women who vote Republican believe abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest, or emergency pregnancy.
If Harris leads the ticket, he will be expected to address the issue in the coming months.
“This is one of the main issues that has been emphasized in the last year or two,” said Matthew Baum, the Marvin Kalb professor of global communication at Harvard University. “Clearly the Republicans are trying to defang the problem. It has been a disaster for them.”
Of course, Republicans will paint Harris’ views on abortion as extremist. During the presidential debate against Biden, Trump falsely claimed Democrats support abortion at the end of pregnancy, “even after birth.”
Shortly after news broke that Biden had endorsed Harris, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America released a statement citing Harris’ record and providing evidence of what’s to come. “When Joe Biden had trouble saying the word abortion, Kamala Harris shouted it,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president.
Some pollsters say Harris needs to do more than just campaign against Republican efforts to roll back abortion access to motivate voters because so many issues, such as inflation, the economy, and immigration, compete for attention.
“He should have said that he is running for federal legislation that will come back Roe v. Wade“said Robert Blendon, professor emeritus of public health at Harvard University. “They need something specific and clear.”
Harris’ elevation to the top of the ticket will come at a critical juncture in the reproductive rights battle.
The Supreme Court heard two abortion cases in the term that ended this month. But the judges did not elaborate on the issue in either case, but decided on a technicality. Both are expected to return to court next year.
In one case challenged the FDA’s 2000 approval of the abortion pill mifepristoneThe judges ruled that a group of anti-abortion medical professionals who challenged the drug could not sue because they failed to show that they were harmed by its availability.
But the Supreme Court sent the case back to the district court in Texas where it was filed, and GOP attorneys general from three states — Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri — have joined the case as plaintiffs. Whether the court accepts the states as viable challengers remains to be seen, but if they do, the justices could be asked to once again decide the fate of the abortion pill.
Another abortion-related case created a federal law that requires hospitals to provide emergency care against Idaho’s strict ban, which allows abortion when the patient’s life is in danger – but not in cases where it is necessary to protect their health, including future fertility. .
In that case, the judge was unable to reach a majority agreement, instead stating that it was premature to accept the case and send it back to a lower court for further consideration. The case can also be returned in short order.
Harris will also have a lot of flexibility to talk about what he sees as the core health policy achievements of the Biden administration. These include Affordable Care Act tax credits aimed at helping consumers obtain health insurance coverage, which were extended through the Inflation Reduction Act through 2025, a $35 monthly cap to pay some patients for insulin, and Medicare drug price negotiations.
“I think it’s great. He’s the core of the administration and he’s going to be able to take credit for that,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase.
That said, it may be difficult for any candidate to get voters to focus on some of these accomplishments, especially drug pricing efforts.
While the administration has taken some important steps, “new expensive drugs keep coming out,” Mendelson said. “So from a consumer perception point of view, they don’t believe that drug costs are going down.”
Joseph Antos, of the American Enterprise Institute, said Harris would say the Biden-Harris administration “has saved money” on insulin. But they need to go beyond that achievement and reduce drug prices and other cost issues — not just talking about reproductive rights.
“They need to concentrate, if they want to win, on issues that have broad appeal,” Antos said. “Cost is one thing and access to care is another big issue.”
Samantha Young of KFF Health News contributed to this report.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—a source of health policy research, polling and independent journalism. Learn more about KFF.