Harris’ possible running mates have record of securing reproductive rights post Dobbs
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
The Democratic Party kicked off its virtual roll call on Thursday to formally nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as its pick for the next commander-in-chief. Harris is expected to announce her running mate soon.
Speculation over her vice presidential nominee has run rampant. States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C., bureau recently spoke with political experts who suspect Harris is looking for someone outside the Beltway to connect with voters.
According to media reports, she has narrowed her choices to four male governors and a U.S. senator — all white — who represent a mix of competitive and solidly, left-leaning states: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.
All five men have criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to abortion, and they’ve backed policy to secure or expand reproductive rights in the two years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. (The governors are also members of the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of leaders dedicated to preserving the right to abortion and reproductive health post-Dobbs.)
Here’s a look at what Harris’ possible vice president picks has said — and done — on reproductive rights:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
As a Democratic governor in a conservative-leaning state, Beshear has pushed for lawmakers to add rape and incest exceptions to abortion laws. The commonwealth enacted a trigger law and a near-total abortion ban after Roe v. Wade fell in June 2022. During his reelection campaign last year, Beshear ran ads featuring Hadley Duvall, underscoring the lack of reprieve for sexual assault survivors under bans, Kentucky Lantern reported. Duvall was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12. The pressure from the ads led Beshear’s opponent, former Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, to say he would sign legislation adding rape and incest exceptions to Kentucky’s ban if elected governor.
Beshear won 52% of the vote in November 2022, and he thanked Duvall in his victory speech, according to the Lantern. “What a brave, courageous young woman that she is,” Beshear said. “We believe she and everyone else should have options, and the legislature should make that change as quickly as they come in.” In April, the Senate GOP blocked a vote on legislation that would have addressed the issue.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly
A former astronaut and Navy captain, Kelly has been in office since 2020 and was reelected in 2022. He voted in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act in May 2022, legislation that would codify the federal right to an abortion. “We’ve got to codify Roe at the federal level,” Kelly said in May, according to Arizona Mirror. “I think that is truly the path forward.” Ahead of the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Kelly highlighted how abortion bans have affected the full scope of reproductive health care and led some doctors to flee Arizona, which has a 15-week ban.
Kelly has also backed protective IVF measures in Congress. In June, he and his wife Gabby Giffords, a former congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, wrote in an essay for People magazine about their struggles with fertility. Two days after Giffords was shot the couple was supposed to have an appointment for embryo implantation. They wrote: “Our dream of having a child together was taken away by a gunman. The dreams of Americans to have a child together could be taken away by politicians.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Pritzker leads a state that has become an abortion access point in the Midwest. Illinois borders Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri — all have abortion bans — and Iowa, which enacted a six-week ban this week. He recently signed legislation that will require insurers to cover postpartum care — doulas, midwives, lactation consultants — up to a year after birth, Capitol News Illinois reported. The law also ended abortion copays and deductibles.
He signed a budget in June that allocates more than $23 million for a slew of maternal health care programs that will invest in community-based providers, home nurse programs and free diapers. “There is no freedom of choice without access to a full spectrum of reproductive healthcare for women and new mothers,” Pritzker said in February when announcing the initiative.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
Formerly the state’s attorney general, Shapiro was elected governor in November 2022. Last month, Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported that he would not defend the state’s ban on the use of Medicaid funds for abortion. “Pennsylvania’s Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex — and as our State Supreme Court ruled earlier this year, the state ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion services is sex-based discrimination,” Shapiro said in a statement.
He ended the state’s contract with Real Alternatives, a group that funds anti-abortion pregnancy centers, in December 2023, Capital Star reported. The organization received more than $30 million in state funding between 2012 and 2017. Shapiro also signed legislation last year to improve tracking of pregnancy-related deaths. He is facing criticism because his office paid $295,000 to settle a female employee’s sexual harassment complaint against his former cabinet secretary.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
Even though a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling guaranteed the right to abortion in Minnesota, Walz has signed legislation that widened access in the state. Last year, lawmakers removed the 24-hour waiting period for abortions, ended extensive abortion reporting, and removed the requirement that abortions be performed in hospitals.
He signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act in January 2023, which codified the right to reproductive health care and abortion with no limits or exceptions, Minnesota Reformer reported. “The message that we’re sending Minnesota today is very clear. Your rights are protected in the state. You have the right to make your own decisions about your health, your family and your life,” Walz said during a ceremonial bill signing.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter. Kentucky Lantern stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Donate to Kentucky Lantern here.
