Harris focusing on personal stories as she campaigns on abortion rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to give a speech focused squarely on abortion rights and she’ll do so in Georgia, where news reports have documented women’s deaths in the face of the state’s six-week ban.

“It is a time of mourning, but it’s also a time where great action can come out of this,” said Park Cannon, a Georgia state lawmaker and a doula who provides guidance and support to pregnant woman during labor.

ProPublica reported this week that two Georgia women died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills to end their pregnancies.

Harris, who will be in the Atlanta area on Friday to address the issue, on Thursday night heard from the mother and sisters of one of the women who died.

During a livestreamed campaign event hosted by Oprah Winfrey and attended by Harris, Shanette Williams, the mother of Amber Thurman, tearfully told viewers that “people around the world need to know that this was preventable.” Williams said she initially did not want to go public about her daughter’s 2022 death but ultimately decided it was important for people to understand her daughter “was not a statistic. She was loved.”

Harris told the family, “I’m just so sorry. The courage you all have shown is extraordinary.”

The vice president added: “This story is a story that is, sadly, not the only story of what has been happening since these bans have taken place.”

Dozens of pregnant patients have faced delayed care or been turned away from hospitals amid medical emergencies over the last two years, a violation of federal law, since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Violations occurred in states with and without abortion bans. But an AP analysis earlier this year found an immediate spike in some states with abortion bans, including Texas, following the ruling.

Harris was the administration’s chief spokesperson on abortion rights when President Joe Biden was running for reelection, headlining rallies across the nation, and she is the highest-ranking U.S. official to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Since becoming the nominee, though, she’s broadened her focus to a wider range of issues.

Harris’ campaign is hoping that reproductive rights will be a strong motivator for Democrats in the November election. Republican nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, continues to take credit for appointing three of the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

About half of voters say abortion is one of the most important issues as they consider their vote – but it’s more important to women who are registered voters than to male voters, according to a new AP-NORC poll. About 6 in 10 women voters say abortion policy is one of the most important issues to their vote in the upcoming election, compared to about 4 in 10 male voters.

The gender gap doesn’t stop there.

About 6 in 10 women voters trust Harris more than Trump to handle abortion, while about 2 in 10 women have more trust in Trump. Half of male voters, by contrast, trust Harris more than Trump on abortion, while about one-third trust Trump more than Harris.

Democrats point to a series of electoral wins when abortion rights have been on the ballot, and advocates believe Harris is a strong messenger. During the Sept. 10 presidential debate she gave a forceful answer on how the bans have affected even women who never intended to end pregnancies.

Harris has a long history of fighting for reproductive health issues, especially Black maternal health. Since taking over the top of the ticket, others have toured the nation talking about reproductive rights, including her husband, Doug Emhoff.

In Georgia, Thurman had waited more than 20 hours at the hospital for a routine medical procedure known as a D&C to clear out remaining tissue after taking abortion pills, even as she developed sepsis. Family members told ProPublica that the other woman who died was afraid to seek help for the pain she was experiencing after taking abortion pills. She also had a lethal combination of painkillers in her system.

Dr. Nisha Verma, an OB-GYN in Georgia, said the six-week ban has caused a “massive environment of fear and confusion and uncertainty” for the medical community.

“Medicine is a gray area,” she said. Laws, though “are a blunt instrument.”

She said Republican legislators who are now blaming hospitals and doctors are seeing the ramifications of the laws playing out in real time.

“The law is preventing us from being able to provide evidence-based care without having to think about the risk of criminal prosecution,” she said.

Harris lays the blame on Trump, saying in a statement that, “This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down.”

During the presidential debate earlier this month, Trump leaned heavily on his catchall response to questions on abortion rights, saying the issue should be left up to the states. He said he would not sign a national abortion ban. But he has also repeatedly declined to say whether he would veto such a ban if he were elected again.

Harris was making a campaign stop later Friday in Wisconsin following her visit to Georgia. Trump had no public events scheduled for Friday.

___ AP Polling Editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report.