In Iowa, Kamala Harris says abortion rights are under attack

DES MOINES — In a packed auditorium at Drake University on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris urged Iowa Democrats to work to protect abortion rights, which she said are under attack by Republican leaders.

Harris spoke about abortion rights with Jennifer Palmieri, a Democratic adviser and host of the Showtime series “The Circus,” highlighting a six-week ban Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law this month that has been blocked from going into effect by a district court.

It was the second visit this year the vice president has made to the Hawkeye State. She held a similar event in March at Grand View University in Des Moines.

Harris said Iowa’s law, which bans abortion before many women know they are pregnant, is, “in effect, an outright ban.”

“As I travel the country, it becomes clear to me that so many people in the state legislatures don't even know how women's bodies work,” she said. “Most people do not even know they are pregnant at six weeks.”

The abortion bill Reynolds signed into law this month bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo or fetus.

The law was temporarily blocked by a district court, and abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks. The Iowa Supreme Court said this week Reynolds can appeal the temporary injunction, and the court will weigh the injunction and may set a new standard governing abortion laws in Iowa.

Iowa Republicans — who passed a similar law in 2018 that was permanently blocked — made another attempt at the law after a pair of court decisions that reshaped the legal landscape around abortion. Last summer, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed a decision that guaranteed a fundamental right to an abortion, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a federal right to an abortion since 1973.

Harris said the U.S. Supreme Court decision — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Clinic — was the first time the court took away a constitutionally recognized right.

“We are a nation that has measured its progress and growth in many ways, including through an understanding that we are stronger through an expansion of rights, not a restriction of rights,” she said.

Election implications

Harris also connected the push to restrict abortion in many Republican-led states to what she called attacks on other freedoms, like voting rights and the rights of LGBTQ people. But she said those pressures will allow Democrats to build stronger bases of support in future elections.

“I think it's very important to see this in that context, but to also see the opportunity presented in this moment of crisis,” she said. “Which is the opportunity to rededicate ourselves to coalition building, bringing people together.”

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from March found that 61 percent of Iowans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Harris told the roomful of Democrats and abortion rights advocates they should organize and register to vote in coming elections, to give Congress the Democratic majorities it needs to codify abortion rights and pass other Democratic priorities like a national voting rights act and the Equality Act.

In the 2022 election, Republicans underperformed expectations nationally, which many credit to abortion rights being a major issue in the election. Harris noted that in places like Kansas and Kentucky constitutional amendments to restrict abortion rights were rejected by voters.

"Let's make sure that people start registering now," Harris said. "Let's not wait until the eve of the election. Let's take these next few months until the end of the year and make it our personal mission to remind everyone we know, please register to vote. Because it will and it does make a difference."

Republican response

Harris’ official visit took place hours before 13 Republican presidential candidates took the stage at the Iowa Events Center for the state party’s Lincoln Dinner, a major fundraiser.

Many of those candidates have advocated for national abortion bans, while others have shied away from what is seen as an unpopular topic for general election voters.

In a statement Friday, Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann took aim at Harris and Biden’s economic and immigration policies.

“You know what Iowans are really talking about? How 'Bideonomics' is eating up their paychecks as real wages continue to decline, and how Joe Biden and his 'Border Czar' Kamala Harris are overseeing the worst border disaster in American history,” he said. "Kamala Harris' taxpayer-funded trip isn't going to be enough to distract Iowans from this hard reality."

Audience

Sarah Carmichael, 36, a Democrat from Des Moines, said she was glad Harris came to talk about abortion issues, and she was inspired by the talk. She said political activism starts at the local level, and the event motivated her to keep up that involvement.

“I live in Des Moines, which is a very Democratic city, but working with rural populations is important,” she said. “Making sure you know your city council and what they're doing and trying to attend city council meetings, hold them accountable for how they're voting on things, how they're spending money.”

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com