Hillary Clinton: 'Kamala will restore abortion rights nationwide'
Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has voiced her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, vowing that if elected, Harris will “restore abortion rights nationwide.”
Clinton ran for president on the Democratic ticket in 2016, the first woman to run for president for a major political party, winning the popular vote but losing the electoral college vote to Republican opponent Donald Trump.
Speaking at the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday evening, Clinton advocated for Harris’ presidential campaign, arguing that it represented a “new chapter in America’s story.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“Women fighting for reproductive healthcare are saying, ‘keep going,’” Clinton said. “Families building better lives, parents stretching to afford child care, young people struggling to pay their rent, they’re all asking us to ‘keep going.’”
“Progress is possible but not guaranteed. We have to fight for it and never ever give up. There is always a choice: do we push forward or pull back?”
Clinton claimed that Harris has “the character, experience, and vision to lead us forward” as president, adding, “I know her heart and her integrity.”
“As president, she will always have our backs, and she will be a fighter for us,” Clinton continued. “She will fight to lower costs for hard-working families, open the doors wide for good-paying jobs, and yes, she will restore abortion rights nationwide.”
Clinton also called on convention attendees to “salute President Biden” for his public service, saying that “he has been democracy’s champion at home and abroad” and that he “brought dignity, decency and competence back to the White House.”
Last month, Biden announced that he was quitting and would no longer seek reelection, saying in a statement that he had “decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
Biden also endorsed Harris, claiming that his selection of her as his running mate when he ran for president in 2020 was “the best decision I’ve made.”
Harris, who was installed without winning a single primary vote, garnered support from prominent Democrat Party figures. In advance of the convention, she secured enough delegate votes to be the presumptive nominee.
In 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide, and returned laws governing abortion back to the states.
Since then, several states have moved to ban abortion in nearly all circumstances, with exemptions always provided for instances in which the mother is facing a medical emergency.
The Biden administration denounced the decision, with Harris holding numerous events across the country to promote legalizing abortion for all reasons and through all stages of pregnancy.
For his part, Trump has recently stated that, if reelected, he will allow states to determine their own abortion policies and does not support a national abortion ban.
