WASHINGTON (AP) — Three top reproductive rights groups are endorsing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection in 2024.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily's List are throwing their early support behind the reelection effort in part to highlight the importance of the issue for Democrats heading into the election year, leaders told the Associated Press on Thursday.
“I think that President Biden has been an incredibly valuable partner, along with Vice President Harris, in fighting back against the onslaught of attacks that we have seen,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said the president and vice president were proud to have earned the support of the groups. Since the decision last year by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, “we have seen the horrifying impact that the extreme MAGA agenda has on women’s health,” she said, referring to Donald Trump's “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Biden has said he'll work to protect reproductive health care, including codifying abortion rights in federal law.
Mimi Timmaraju, head of NARAL-Pro Choice America, said the Biden administration has worked really well to raise awareness. “They’ve also been strategically smart about deploying all the resources they can to really support providers and patients.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion, 22 states have passed either a ban or highly restrictive policies on abortion. Other states, though, have expanded access to abortion care. The Biden administration has brought together leaders from all 50 states to talk strategy on how to expand access and work together to help people in more restrictive states.
For Emily's List, an advocacy group for Democratic female candidates, Harris is a powerful symbol, said president Laphonza Butler.
“She is the highest serving woman who has broken the hard glass ceiling of representing women in the White House,” Butler said. “This is the administration using every bully pulpit it can to advance reproductive health and freedom across the country. ”
