Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota on Thursday. According to multiple reports this was the first time a president or vice president has ever visited a clinic that provides abortion services in U.S. history.
Footage of Harris speaking at the clinic is currently surfacing on social media. In the footage, Harris can be heard explaining why she visited the facility. “Right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis and the crisis is affecting many people in our country. Most of whom are frankly silently suffering after the United States Supreme Court took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America.”
“So I’m here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like,” Harris said. “It is only right and fair that people have access to the healthcare that they need … in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.”
In 28 states, access to abortion is currently limited depending on gestational age, with bans ranging from six weeks to more than 24 weeks. Abortion is almost completely banned with limited exceptions in another 14 states.
Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion up until the fetus can survive outside the womb, was the law of the land for nearly 50 years. But in 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the half-century-old precedent with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Since then, data indicates abortions have went up nationally despite drops in states that have banned or greatly restricted the procedure.