Vice President Kamala Harris will kick off her nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour Monday in Waukesha County, where she will bolster abortion rights and demand federal lawmakers restore Roe v. Wade.
Harris’ visit falls on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared abortion a constitutional right. Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson. Harris will focus on the impact of Roe v. Wade’s overturn in Wisconsin, which caused reproductive care clinics to close and forced hospitals to turn women away from services.
“These extremists want to roll back the clock to a time before women were treated as full citizens – to the 1800s. Just look at what happened here in Wisconsin,” Harris said in a press release.
Harris said President Joe Biden would veto any national abortion ban passed by Congress.
Abortion became a hotbed debate nationwide after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Services were unavailable in Wisconsin for 15 months.
Opposition to abortion restrictions played a critical role in Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s win last April, which gave liberal justices a Democratic majority.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed abortion services in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan after a lower state court ruled an 1849 Wisconsin law on feticide does not prohibit consensual abortion care.
Republicans on Monday plan to hear a bill that would hold a statewide referendum on whether abortions in Wisconsin should be banned after 14 weeks.
“We need to understand the horrific reality that women face every single day. Since Roe was overturned, I have met women who have had miscarriages in toilets because they were refused care,” Harris said in a press release.
Wisconsin officials including U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez will join Harris for her visit.
The Biden administration has made numerous visits to Wisconsin in the past year ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a race where Wisconsin is expected to play a crucial role.
In August, Harris visited southeastern Wisconsin to tout the Biden administration’s broadband expansion and domestic job creation efforts.
Additionally, she launched a “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour in September during which she traveled to eight states, targeting issues that impact young people including reproductive rights, climate action and LGBTQ+ equality.
President Joe Biden visited Milwaukee on Dec. 20, when he met with Black voters at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce and highlighted advancements made by the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
First Lady Jill Biden also lauded the administration’s Cancer Moonshot initiative and met with public school educators in an Aug. 31 visit.
Rachel Hale is a senior staff writer who covers state politics and campus events. Before getting involved with The Daily Cardinal, she was a culture editor at Moda Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @rachelleighhale.
Ava Menkes is the state news editor at The Daily Cardinal. She has covered multiple stories about Wisconsin politics and written in-depth about nurses unions and youth voter turnout. Follow her on Twitter at @AvaMenkes.
