On Roe anniversary, Harris takes abortion fight to DeSantis’s backyard
Katherine Doyle
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Vice President Kamala Harris will give a speech on abortion rights in Florida on Sunday, reviving a partisan wedge issue in the backyard of a prominent swing state governor many Republicans hope will run for president in 2024.
Harris’s speech in Tallahassee to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling will aim at Republicans after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision eliminated federal protections for abortion.
It was a potent message for Harris, who rallied voters on abortion in the lead-up to the midterm elections, helping to cushion Democrats’ losses by propelling voters to the polls.
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Florida resisted this trend. Instead, Republicans led by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) secured landslide victories, including in heavily Democratic districts, prompting questions about whether the results could be replicated elsewhere.
DeSantis has ignited a national frenzy with policies on coronavirus lockdowns, classroom education, and, lately, abortion, securing a victory this week over an ousted Democratic prosecutor who vowed not to follow certain abortion-related laws.
The governor has not shied from swiping at Harris directly, charging on the midterm campaign trail that the vice president was President Joe Biden’s “insurance” policy against being removed from office.
DeSantis has sparred with prominent Democrats touted as potential future party standard bearers and likely rivals to Harris should Biden elect not to run. The combative Republican is also frequently a foil for elected officials looking to boost their profiles nationally.
Harris’s visit comes as Democrats begin charting a path to 2024, placing the vice president squarely in the middle of the fight over abortion access.
Biden on Friday lashed out at the court over Dobbs, charging in a proclamation that conservative justices have risked “the health and lives” of women with the decision. The president said he would continue to use executive authority to protect women’s rights.
How the White House plans to act isn’t clear.
Asked why Harris chose to make the speech in Florida, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that while Florida’s abortion ban is “less stringent than in the neighboring states,” a more restrictive rule under consideration would prove “devastating” to women not only in Florida but across its borders.
“The state has increasingly become a place where women can go to access care,” Jean-Pierre said.
The divide on abortion isn’t strictly partisan.
It has also split Republicans, with former President Donald Trump, a Florida resident and candidate for the nomination in 2024, blaming GOP midterm losses on the party’s push to roll back Roe.
By touting Florida as a sanctuary for women seeking abortion care, Harris’s visit to Tallahassee could pit the popular governor against parts of a national Republican base.
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It could also animate Democrats after disappointing results in the states prompted some party strategists to call for directing resources elsewhere.
“Harris’s visit to Florida comes at a time when Democrats at the state and local levels have been informing their constituents that Florida has been written off,” Sasha Tirador, a South Florida Democratic consultant, told the Washington Examiner.
Tirador said the vice president’s appearance could help revive a feeling among the state party that Florida is still in play.