President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will appear together for the first time this presidential campaign season in Manassas on Tuesday. They plan to highlight abortion rights as a top issue for Democrats.
The rally will be at 4:30 p.m. at George Mason University’s Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas.
Appearing with the two, also for the first time since the campaign started, will be their spouses, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
The rally comes 51 years after Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The Supreme Court overturned the ruling 18 months ago.
Harris has been campaigning on the issue, calling abortion an integral part of the country’s tradition of personal liberty, according to The Associated Press.
“In America, freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours by right,” Harris said in Wisconsin on Monday. “And that includes the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body — not the government telling you what to do.”
Biden’s latest TV ad features a doctor who had to leave Texas to get an abortion when she found out the baby had a fatal condition.
In this campaign season, Democrats have embraced the abortion issue while Republicans have been reluctant to bring it to the forefront, fearful of voter backlash.
Just Monday, the White House announced the creation of a team to help hospitals that receive federal funding comply with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that the administration has said requires hospitals to provide life-saving treatment when a patient is at risk of dying, including emergency abortions in the 21 states where the procedure is limited or banned.
Other actions by the administration’s Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access include strengthening access to contraception for women with private insurance and for federal workers and reminding insurers of their obligations to cover contraception.
Feature image by Adam Schultz/White House
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