Vice President Kamala Harris, now the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, has released her long-anticipated policy page, focusing on one of the most divisive issues of the campaign: abortion. Harris, running with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice-presidential candidate, has placed “reproductive freedom” at the forefront of her platform. Their campaign’s goal is to eliminate pro-life state laws across the country and restore federal protection for abortion through legislation. The move comes as a response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the power to regulate abortion to the states.
Harris’s policy platform explicitly aims to reverse this state-level authority, pledging to sign into law a federal mandate guaranteeing abortion access across all 50 states. This plan would effectively nullify the pro-life laws that have been passed in numerous conservative states since the Dobbs ruling. Harris has emphasized that she will not allow any national abortion ban to take effect during her presidency and has committed to signing a bill that reinstates federal protection of abortion access if passed by Congress.
Sure Kamala, your grandmother went into the villages with a bullhorn telling women about abortion.
And you worked at McDonald's.
Kamala Lies. pic.twitter.com/UCKCLGFNfj— RobinLT🇺🇲 (@RobinLT007) September 5, 2024
The policy, featured on Harris’s official campaign site, has drawn criticism from conservative and pro-life groups, who argue that it disregards states' rights and imposes an extreme agenda on the nation. Her proposal includes codifying abortion access up until the point of fetal viability, echoing the pre-Dobbs standard set by Roe v. Wade, and potentially allowing late-term abortions under specific circumstances.
Harris's strategy builds on the Biden administration's attempts to restore Roe, but her campaign goes further by portraying her opposition as dangerous to women’s rights. The campaign claims former President Donald Trump will implement a nationwide abortion ban if re-elected. This rhetoric has been seen as an attempt to energize voters, particularly among pro-choice Democrats and independents, a significant portion of whom identify as pro-choice. However, critics note that Trump has consistently stated that the abortion issue should remain with the states, allowing them to regulate it as they see fit.
This gentleman understands the issues. Kamala, on the other hand, only cares about abortion! Why dont the Democrats push contraception instead of abortion? Is it because there's more money in baby parts?🤔 pic.twitter.com/NFHxXmlZRL
— 🇺🇸Steve2A🇺🇸God🇺🇸Family🇺🇸Country🇺🇸 (@lakemonstercl1) September 3, 2024
Harris’s position contrasts sharply with Republicans’ approach. GOP candidates, including Trump, have expressed support for pro-life policies while maintaining exceptions for cases involving rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Trump’s stance has led to varying abortion laws across the country, with some states imposing strict bans and others maintaining more permissive policies. Pro-life advocates argue that this decentralized approach better respects the moral and cultural differences between states.
The Harris campaign, however, views these state laws as an affront to women’s autonomy, vowing to overturn them. Her platform frames this as a fight for “reproductive justice,” a term that Harris uses to position abortion as a critical healthcare issue. She asserts that women, not the government, should be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies. The campaign also takes direct aim at what it calls “Trump abortion bans,” accusing the former president of threatening women's rights and access to reproductive healthcare across the board.
Polling on the issue reveals that while a majority of Americans support some form of abortion access, there is significant disagreement over where to draw the line. A YouGov/The Times poll indicates that while 31 percent of voters favor unrestricted access to abortion, 62 percent support some form of restriction, either limiting abortion in most cases or permitting it only in extreme circumstances. Harris’s policy of federalizing abortion thus remains a polarizing issue, with critics accusing her of sidelining the concerns of Americans who prefer state control over such moral matters.
As the election approaches, abortion will likely remain a central issue for both campaigns. While Harris and Walz have embraced an aggressive pro-abortion stance, many question whether this will resonate with a broader electorate more concerned with economic issues and border security. Nevertheless, Harris's focus on reproductive rights signals her intent to galvanize her base, particularly among women and younger voters, making abortion a key battleground in 2024.
