Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams got off the bus carrying Harris’ surrogates in Macon during a Georgia reproductive rights tour.
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As former President Trump struggles with his messaging on abortion, Vice President Harris’ campaign has undertaken a major effort focused on the issue.
The Harris campaign has been running ads focused on reproductive rights in several key states and recently launched a bus tour that will visit about 50 locations in battleground states between now and Election Day on November 5.
“I’m not a racist,” LaTorria Beasley said at a recent bus stop in Macon, Georgia. Her Story Last year, she was sitting in her doctor’s office when she got the news that her IVF treatment, scheduled for about a week later, would have to be postponed because of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling.
LaTolla Beasley spoke about her experience with IVF in Atlanta on September 6. Her fertility treatments were put on hold after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling put IVF in legal question. Beasley is a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and campaigns as part of Harris’ “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour.
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“Despite months of preparing for this moment, my doctors have told me I cannot proceed,” Beasley told several dozen people gathered at a Macon park for an event organized by the Harris campaign.
Beasley and her husband were trying to have a second child, but fertility clinics across Alabama stopped offering the treatment. The state legislature Emergency RepairsBut for patients like Beasley, waiting means losing time and money.
“Donald Trump is responsible for what happened in Alabama and what happened to me,” Beasley said.
And, Beasley added, Georgia voters are not unaware of the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision a little over two years ago that overturned decades of abortion rights precedent. Currently illegal She gave birth in Georgia around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Rep. Nykema Williams, who also serves as chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, said constituents she speaks to are concerned that a second Trump administration would mean more restrictions.
“They’re very concerned about how a Trump administration will impact their reproductive freedom,” she told NPR in an interview Friday on a bus between Macon and Atlanta. “From what I’m hearing, voters seem to be very moved by this issue.”
Democratic Rep. Nikema Williams of Georgia spoke about reproductive rights to a group of Kamala Harris supporters in Macon while on a bus tour with Harris’ surrogates.
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Throughout the election campaign, Trump Mixed messages On reproductive rights: In a recent interview with NBC, he said Florida’s abortion ban, like Georgia’s, Banning abortion About six weeks later, he said it was “too restrictive” and also indicated he would vote in favor of the reproductive rights proposal.
Following backlash from anti-abortion groups, Trump later said he would vote against the bill.
Pollster Tressa Undem said abortion is The most voted question That matters to key Democratic constituencies, and Trump knows it.
“The polls are no secret,” Andem said. “With independent women, pro-abortion suburban women, he’s going to have to peel away some of that support to win.”
“Right now, there’s a big gender gap. If he doesn’t address that, he’s going to lose out.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement that the president “strongly supports ensuring that women have access to the care they need,” including in vitro fertilization and birth control.
Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to remind voters of Trump’s past comments and actions and link him to policy proposals like the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which calls for greater regulation of reproductive health care.
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) spoke in Atlanta on September 6th as part of the “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour kicking off Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign.
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On Friday, at a barbecue restaurant in Atlanta, another stop on the tour, Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia reminded voters that his state has the nation’s worst maternal mortality rate and health care worker shortage.
Ossoff recently Led the Senate hearings Lawmakers who oppose Georgia’s abortion ban told NPR that they’ve heard from doctors across the state about patients with medical complications who were denied abortions.
“This is a personal issue for women in Georgia and it impacts the health of women in Georgia,” he said.
Ursula Anderson, sitting with friends at the Atlanta event, said they were all working to help Harris win the election.
“We need to remind women that no matter what Trump says, there are American women out there who need their support,” Anderson said, “and if after two years they’ve forgotten that, we need to remind them.”
Harris supporters cheer at a reproductive health campaign event in Macon, Georgia.
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