A State of the Conversation: Vice President Susan Harris and the Implications for the Roe v. Wade Proton (and Other) Rights

Ever since the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade first leaked in May — a decision that led to bans and severe restrictions on abortion in 15 states — Vice President Harris has had a lengthy series of conversations.

Harris, who was a district attorney and California’s attorney general before she entered national politics, has a long track record on reproductive rights.

Harris said last week at a Central Connecticut State University event that they should link arms and do what is needed in the next 34 days.

With roughly a month until Election Day, polls show that abortion is a top issue motivating both Democratic and independent voters. A September NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed that 77% of Democrats said the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion makes them more likely to vote this year.

In her New Britain stop, Harris was introduced by Rep. Jahana Hayes. Democrats are trying to hold on to their majority in the House of Representatives despite the fact that it’s currently a safe Democratic district, as they are pushing to win races like this one in order to do so.

Harris has brought people from across the country to listening sessions at the White House, but she has also traveled to states like North Carolina, Indiana and Florida, and will be traveling to more states with competitive elections into November.

These events give Harris the chance to hear from people affected by the new restrictions on abortion. But they’re also a “smart move” politically, said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod.

Even though they aren’t making national news, the events still get a lot of local attention. Elrod said in an interview that she will probably lead most of the daily newspapers in that state.

‘Teach me what I can’t do, but I know what you can do’: A conversation between Biden, Frye, and Ramos

People who have been in the meetings say Harris is focused on the details. The president of the advocacy group NationalPartnership for Women and Families said that when she met with Biden, she was very much involved in the conversation.

This isn’t a meeting where she is just reading talking points. On a daily basis she’s immersed in what’s happening. She really wanted to learn from the conversation. She had done her homework,” Frye told NPR.

“I have always believed that fighting for the dignity of women in the health care system is a priority for me,” Harris said last week at a Connecticut event.

The issue is going to be about what all of the movements have been about. “There’s going to be a need for litigation and legislation, there’s going to be the need for organizing.”

In the meetings, Harris often raises the “Venn diagram” way in which states that are restricting abortion access are also restricting access to voting and LGBTQ rights.

Andrea Ramos, a state representative from Utah, said that message resonated with her when she attended one of Harris’ roundtables in August with other Latina state lawmakers. She said she left the meeting feeling like Harris had given her a call to action more than abortion.

“She had a challenge that elected officials had to organize,” Ramos said. “It was about marriage equality, it was about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to vote.”

She said it pushed her to engage with her community and encourage people to vote, despite the fact that there is a lot at stake.

Harris, who has the role of addressing the root causes of migration at the southern border, said the White House plans to boost technology to help process asylum cases more efficiently, and add more agents at the southern border. But she emphasized that Congress needs to lead on the larger issues.

The Supreme Court Needs to Know About the Immigrant Process in the U.S.: Republican Reps. A.M. Harris and the State of the State

Title 42, the Trump-era public health order that restricted migrants from crossing the southern border, had been set to expire on Wednesday, until the Supreme Court issued a temporary halt on the expiration late on Monday.

The attorneys general from 19 states argued that lifting the restrictions would lead to a huge surge in illegal immigration. There has already been an increase of people attempting to migrate to the U.S. in recent weeks.

The Supreme Court issued a stay on the case late in the evening, hours before Harris said that there was so much that needs to be addressed.

“And sadly, what we have seen in particular, I am sad to say, from Republicans in Congress is an unwillingness to engage in any meaningful reform that could actually fix a lot of what we are witnessing,” Harris told NPR’s Asma Khalid.

She said that the legislation that will allow for a legal path to citizenship and a legal presence in the country will be necessary for the reform of our immigration system.

Harris criticized some Republicans who used migrants to score political points. In recent months, Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, have bused migrants in their states to more liberal areas of the country, among them Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Democrats’ success in the Georgia runoff election that took place earlier this month meant the party gained a bit of a cushion in passing their agenda through the Senate. Since becoming Vice President, Harris has cast tie-breaking votes in the upper chamber 26 times. She said she expects she will be able to travel a lot next year because she’s not on call for Senate votes.

She spent a lot of time meeting with advocates and state legislators about the Supreme Court’s decision. But on that issue, Democrats still don’t have enough votes in the Senate to make good on President Biden’s pledge to codify abortion rights.

“The work cannot be anything other than a matter of urgency to protect and fight for these rights, for all people to put pressure on the United States Congress to do what is the right thing to do and put the protections of Roe v Wade into law to codify it,” she said.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/20/1142808053/harris-says-congress-needs-to-lead-on-immigration-after-title-42-restrictions-en

Social Media Manipulation Against The Musk-Small-Assembly Investigation: A Brief Note on Harris’s Investigative Report

The website’s rules have changed since Musk took charge. The accounts of some journalists who have reported on Musk’s ownership of the company have been suspended. The accounts were mostly all reinstated after a few days.

Asked whether she saw a point where she would stop using the platform, Harris did not directly comment. She said that when she was on the Senate Intelligence Committee she investigated the spread of misinformation on social media platforms.

“I fully expect and would require that leaders in that sector cooperate and work with us who are concerned about national security and concerned about upholding and protecting our democracy to do everything in their power to ensure that there is not a manipulation that is allowed or overlooked,” Harris said.