During his presidency, Joe Biden relied on Kamala Harris, the former prosecutor and senator he chose as vice president, to be the unwavering voice of the White House in favor of reproductive health rights.
Now, as Democrats rebuild their presidential candidacy just months before the elections, it would be expected that, if she becomes the new nominee, Harris will take an aggressive stance in support of abortion access, attacking former President Donald Trump on an issue that could undermine his chances of victory.
Biden supported Harris on Sunday, July 21, when he announced his decision to withdraw from the race.
Although Biden sought to keep abortion as a central theme of his re-election campaign, supporters still had doubts about the president, a practicing Catholic who has said he is “not very much in favor of abortion,” being an effective standard-bearer. Especially as Republican efforts erode access to abortion and other health services for women across the country.
On the other hand, Harris became the first vice president to visit a clinic operated by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She embarked on a national tour focused on reproductive rights. And when Senator JD Vance of Ohio was named Trump’s running mate, Harris used her next campaign rally to criticize him for blocking protections for in vitro fertilization.
“Most significantly, Harris would be the face of the push to protect the right to abortion,” said Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President of Health Policy at KFF, a non-profit health information organization of which KFF Health News is a part, in an interview before Biden withdrew. “Abortion access would likely be the central issue in her campaign.”
A strong stance on abortion is not the only major contrast with the Republican Party that Harris offers: she has a deep knowledge of health policy. As a child, she often accompanied her mother to the lab where she worked on weekends as a breast cancer researcher.
During her 2019 presidential campaign, she supported “Medicare for All,” a single-payer insurance proposal, which established her credentials as a more progressive voice in health policy. And as California Attorney General, she fought against consolidation in the healthcare industry due to concerns that it would increase prices.
In April, she defended a Biden administration rule establishing minimum staffing levels in federally funded senior homes.
“She deserves credit, she has spoken about these issues in the campaign. I don’t see any change in the priorities of what Democrats want to do in health if she becomes the nominee,” said Debbie Curtis, Vice President of McDermott + Consulting.
An intensified focus on women’s health and abortion could help consolidate Democratic voters in the final stretch towards the elections.
Since the three judges appointed by Trump to the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe vs. Wade in 2022, public opinion has turned against the Republicans on the abortion issue, even contributing to an unexpectedly poor outcome in the midterm elections that year.
32% of voters said they would only vote for a candidate for a major office who shared their views on abortion, according to a Gallup survey conducted in May. That is a record high since Gallup first asked the question in 1992. Nearly double the number of voters who support abortion, compared to those who oppose abortion, hold that belief.
63% of adults said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a survey conducted in April by the Pew Research Center. 36% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.
Meanwhile, Republicans have been eager to distance themselves from their own victory on this issue. Trump infuriated some members of his base by saying he would leave abortion decisions to the states.
However, advocates warn that the GOP’s new moderation by omission on the issue masks its real, more extreme stance. Vance has been clear in the past about his support for a national abortion ban.
And while the GOP platform adopted at the party convention a few days ago may not explicitly call for a national abortion ban, the party leaders’ recognition of the “fetal personality,” the idea that as soon as an egg is fertilized it becomes a person with all legal rights, would automatically create a ban if the Supreme Court found it constitutional.
These views contrast with those of many Republicans, especially women. About half of Republican women voters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a recent national survey by KFF.
And most women voting for the Republican Party believe abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest, or a pregnancy emergency.
If Harris leads the candidacy, she would be expected to emphasize these issues in the coming months.
“It has been one of the main, if not the main, issues she has emphasized in the last year or two,” said Matthew Baum, Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications at Harvard University. “Clearly, Republicans are trying to defuse the issue. It has been a disaster for them.”
However, Republicans are likely to present Harris’s views on abortion as extremist. During the presidential debate against Biden, Trump falsely claimed that Democrats support late-term abortions, “even after birth.”
Shortly after the news broke that Biden had endorsed Harris, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued a statement criticizing Harris’s record and offering a sample of what is to come. “While Joe Biden struggles to say the word abortion, Kamala Harris shouts it,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president.
Some pollsters have said that Harris will have to do more than just campaign against Republican efforts to reverse abortion access to truly motivate voters: issues like inflation, the economy, and immigration are competing for attention.
“She has to say she is fighting for a federal law to restore Roe vs. Wade,” said Robert Blendon, Professor Emeritus of Public Health at Harvard University. “She needs something very specific and clear.”
Harris’s elevation to the top of the candidacy would come at a critical moment in the fight for reproductive rights.
The Supreme Court heard two abortion cases in the just-ended term. But the judges did not address the merits of the issues in either case, ruling instead on technical issues. Both are expected to return to the Supreme Court as soon as next year.
Harris would also have considerable freedom to talk about what are considered the key achievements of the Biden administration’s health policy.
These include improved subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) intended to help consumers obtain health insurance, which were extended through the Inflation Reduction Act until 2025, the $35 monthly copay cap that some patients pay for insulin, and drug price negotiations in Medicare.
“I think she is well-positioned. Harris is a central part of the administration and can take credit for those things,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase.
That said, it may be difficult for any candidate to get voters to focus on some of these achievements, especially related to drug prices.
Although the administration has taken some significant steps, “new expensive drugs continue to come onto the market,” Mendelson said. “So if you look at consumer perception, they don’t believe the cost of drugs is going down.”
Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute said Harris is likely to say that the Biden-Harris administration is “already saving people money” on insulin. But she will have to go beyond these achievements and redouble her efforts on drug prices and other cost-related issues, not just talk about reproductive rights.
“She has to focus, if she wants to win, on issues that have broad appeal,” Antos said. “Cost is one and access to treatments is another big issue.”
Samantha Young from KFF Health News contributed to this report.
