Mar 14, 2024 - 21:37
By npr.org

Harris visited an abortion clinic, a first for any president or vice president

Vice President Harris visited an abortion clinic in Minnesota on Thursday — an extraordinary stop meant to signal the importance the Biden campaign is placing on reproductive rights in the 2024 presidential race.

The White House believes this is the first time any U.S. president or vice president has visited a facility that provides abortions along with other reproductive care.

Harris said she made the visit to draw attention to the "very serious health crisis" facing women who live in states that placed new restrictions on abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

"We who have the ability to have a bouquet of microphones in front of us, as I do — I take on, then, the responsibility of uplifting these stories," Harris told reporters.

Harris went to a Planned Parenthood clinic

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Minnesota passed a new law guaranteeing the right to abortion. Neighboring states — including North Dakota and South Dakota — passed bans. That has meant more women traveling to Minnesota for the procedure.

Inside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Saint Paul, Harris met with Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood North Central States. The clinic was open during her visit, but reporters were kept in the lobby.

"I am a proud abortion provider," Traxler told reporters after the tour, calling the vice president's visit a "historic moment."

"Since Roe was overturned, I've cared for patients from everywhere," Traxler said, noting women have come from states as far away as Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida and Wyoming.