Vice President Harris on Thursday will meet virtually with abortion providers from around the country to highlight the Biden administration’s support for reproductive rights after a leaked draft opinion showed the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade.
Harris will be at the White House and will meet via video stream with four abortion providers: Dr. Rebecca Taub, who practices in California, Oklahoma and Kansas; Dr. Bhavik Kumar, who is with Planned Parenthood in Texas; Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, Missouri; and Helen Weems, the founder of All Families Healthcare in Montana.
Harris will hear from the providers about their experiences working in states with “extreme abortion restrictions, and she will thank them for fighting to protect reproductive health care, despite personal risk,” a White House official said.
The meeting is intended as a show of support for abortion providers in the wake of a draft opinion that leaked earlier this month suggested the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark abortion ruling affirming abortion rights.
The administration has struggled to take concrete steps to protect access to abortion ahead of the expected ruling, given the politics of the Senate.
A vote last week on the Women’s Health Protection Act failed as Republican senators and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) voted to block consideration of the bill, which would have would have protected various abortion procedures across the nation.
Harris and President Biden have urged Americans to elect more pro-abortion lawmakers in response to the looming decision and failed Senate vote.
