Kamala Harris becomes first vice president to visit Planned Parenthood abortion clinic – Washington Examiner

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Minnesota on Thursday for the latest stop on her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” campaign tour and, in the process, made what is believed to be the first visit by a vice president to an abortion clinic.

On her trip, Harris stopped by the St. Paul Health Center, Vandalia, a Planned Parenthood clinic located in the Twin Cities area.

Harris has been pushing to visit an abortion provider, CNN reported Thursday morning, after launching her reproductive rights-focused campaign junket earlier this year, a major component of her and President Joe Biden‘s 2024 reelection push. Since January, Harris has stumped for abortion access in Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and now Minnesota, with more trips on the way.

The vice president has emerged as a top surrogate for the president this election cycle, especially when engaging voters of color, and has campaigned in 24 states since the start of the year.

“The reason I’m here is because this is a healthcare crisis,” she told reporters following the visit to the clinic. “Part of this healthcare crisis is the clinics like this that have had to shut down and what that has meant to leave no options with any reasonable geographic area for so many women who need this essential care.”

“In states around our country, extremists have proposed and passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive healthcare,” the vice president continued. So I’m here at this healthcare clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like, which is to understand it is only right and fair that people have access to the healthcare they need, and that they have access to healthcare in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.

Harris was joined Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN). Though several states have enacted harsher abortion restrictions since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Walz signed a bill into law last year that declares abortion access a “fundamental right” in the state.

Thursday’s trip also slots into the Biden-Harris campaign’s “Month of Action” following the president’s State of the Union address last Thursday.

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You can watch Harris’s remarks in full below.

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