Vice President Kamala Harris makes historic abortion facility visit

Vice President Kamala Harris became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit an abortion facility on Thursday afternoon. In the latest leg of her national “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, Harris toured a Planned Parenthood facility with Gov. Tim Walz in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. She spoke afterward at a Women for Biden-Harris event, claiming that the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade initiated a “healthcare crisis” in America. She described laws protecting babies of rape or incest from abortion as “immoral” and insisted “one does not have to abandon their faith” to support abortion. Harris also touched on in vitro fertilization, describing the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court. “On the one hand, they’re [conservatives] saying you don’t have the freedom to end an unwanted pregnancy,” she said. “On the other hand, you don’t have the freedom to start a family [via IVF].” The Biden-Harris campaign has leaned heavily into abortion rhetoric ahead of the 2024 election, alleging women’s rights will be taken if Biden is not re-elected.

Is the abortion angle working on the campaign trail?  Harris received applause following her pro-abortion address in Minnesota. However, some Democrats are unhappy with the Biden administration’s insistence on emphasizing abortion. Executive Director of Democrats for Life of America Kristen Day voiced her frustration with the “extremist view that abortion is the best option for women.” Day told WORLD that pregnancy centers are under “tremendous attack” from the left, despite offering options beyond abortion that do “a lot more for women in the long term.”

Day described Harris’ Thursday visit as “significant and very disappointing,” saying the Democratic party must do more to support mother and child. “Think about what our party stands for,” Day said. “We stand for helping the vulnerable. And nobody is more vulnerable as an innocent baby in the womb and the pregnant mother carrying her.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Leah Savas’ report on The World and Everything In It podcast about how pro-life organizations support parents facing a frightening prenatal diagnosis.