Can Kamala Harris be moved further on abortion rights?
This piece was first published in The Fallout, our weekly newsletter. This convention may also mark the first time Democrats have to grapple with moving away from a Roe-based framework for abortion access in order to adopt something more broader and progressive. If that happens, it will be because of abortion rights advocates’ tireless work to move a potential Kamala Harris administration to the left of her current boss, President Joe Biden.
Despite embracing an arguably broader framing of “reproductive freedom” when campaigning on abortion access than Biden has in office, Vice President Harris is on record supporting a restoration of Roe. This puts her in line with the centrists, who see Roe as a workable and comfortable political framework for abortion. Harris, unlike Biden, may be able to change her mind, and advocates do the right thing in continuing to push for this. She stood out from the other Democratic candidates in her position on abortion, with a thoughtful – if flawed – proposal to require state-level restrictions on abortions receive federal “preclearance” prior to going into effect. The model was based upon how the now-gutted Voting Right Act dealt with state-level restrictions to voting rights. Harris deserves credit for taking a different stance than other Democrats. While this wouldn’t have been able to fix the mess created by Roe, let alone make it worse by reversing the decision, it was a bold move. This kind of creative and tactical approach to the abortion crisis could indicate that a president Harris would embrace and advocate something other than Roe.
