MILWAUKEE — On the verge of her seventh visit to Wisconsin as Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris joined Spanning the State‘s Kristin Brey for a chat focused on women’s reproductive rights and her experience with America’s Dairyland.
Of all the states dealing with fallout from the June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Wisconsin is not one of the first to come to mind from a national perspective. In fact, the most recent Marquette Law Poll shows that abortion has become the third-most important issue to Wisconsinites, following Immigration/Border Security and the Economy.
So why is now the right time for the Vice President to discuss this issue in Wisconsin? She told WTMJ there were three primary reasons to continue this conversation in Wisconsin specifically:
- It’s a national issue that many Wisconsinites do care about.
- People of Wisconsin will have to weigh in on this issue in many ways over time.
- The 2024 Election has serious implications regarding the future of reproductive rights.
“This is a national healthcare crisis, and women throughout the country are affected in a myriad of different ways, including the fact that the highest court in our land took a constitutional right that had been recognized from… the people of America,” Vice President Harris told WTMJ. “Who sits in The White House could very well determine whether a national ban on abortion gets passed.”
The Vice President also brought up the fear that her generation’s daughters could have fewer reproductive rights than their mothers, or even grandmothers based on the results of the 2024 Presidential Election.
When asked whether the federal government could reach a compromise on the abortion debate, Vice President Harris instead pointed toward the lessons she learned from touring the country and meeting with citizens.
“Most people can agree that one does not have to abandon their faith, or deeply held beliefs, to simply agree that government should not be telling her what to do, right?” Vice President Harris questioned in her conversation for Spanning the State. She continued:
“Based on the work that I’ve done over the years, I do believe that most people have empathy, and as people are learning after the Dobbs decision came down about the extraordinary harm that has resulted, many people who otherwise have strong opinions about this issue are sitting back to say ‘But I didn’t intend this kind of harm would happen to people,’ right? And it doesn’t require them to change their position on the issue for themselves, or even their family, but I think that people are really being impacted by the horror stories,” Vice President Harris stated.
Monday, April 22 will mark Vice President Harris’ third visit to Wisconsin since the start of 2024. While being very careful not to generalize Wisconsinites, she described them as “practical, reasonable people who want things to work,” and “want things to make sense.”
