Harris to start reproductive rights bus tour from Trump backyard
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign said Friday it will launch a national bus tour highlighting reproductive rights and freedoms from Donald Trump’s Palm Beach County backyard.
The bus will depart Tuesday, Sept. 3, with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, CNN commentator Ana Navarro and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. Also aboard will be Anya Cook, a Coral Springs resident who spoke at the Democratic National Convention about nearly losing her life as a result of Florida’s ban.
“At this stop and in cities across the country, reproductive rights storytellers, key surrogates, and elected and local officials are going to underscore the ongoing threat Donald Trump poses to reproductive freedom across the country, including threatening access to IVF,” the campaign said in a statement.
Trump indicates he will vote yes on Florida’s Amendment 4, or maybe not
The announcement came a day after Trump and his campaign struggled to explain the Republican White House nominee’s position on a constitutional amendment that proponents say will secure abortion rights in his Florida home state.
The amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot seeks to overturn legislation banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy that was passed by the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis into law.
On Thursday evening, Trump was asked by NBC News reporter Dasha Burns how he would vote on the measure known as Amendment 4.
“I think the six weeks is too short. It has to be more time, and I’ve told them that I want more weeks,” Trump answered.
Burns then followed up the question saying “so you’ll vote in favor of the amendment,” to which Trump replied: “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.”
Trump’s comments put him at odds with DeSantis, the Legislature’s GOP supermajorities and the conservative justices on the Florida Supreme Court that approved the six-week ban in April.
Almost three hours later, Trump’s campaign attempted to clarify their candidate’s comments.
“President Trump has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida, he simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, said in a statement.
That statement coupled with Trump’s assertion that he would “be voting that we need more than six weeks” was unclear as a measure to extend the period of time in which abortions are permitted does not exist and is not on the November ballot.
During remarks in Potterville, Michigan, Trump said “we want more babies” and pledged to U.S. taxpayers — “your government” — “will pay for” or “your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs” involved in individual IVF treatments.
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Reproductive rights bus tour will visit 50 locations
The Harris-Walz campaign did not specify which cities or states would be included in the route but did say there would be at least 50 stops in blue and red communities in support of reproductive rights and cutting across party lines.
“This election is about freedom — and the American people want and deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions. Our campaign is hitting the road to meet voters in their communities, underscore the stakes of this election for reproductive freedom, and present them with the Harris-Walz ticket’s vision to move our country forward, which stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s plans to drag us back,” said Chavez Rodriguez in a statement. “As we crisscross the country, we’ll be driving that contrast home to red and blue voters and independents.”
The campaign statement also slammed what it called Florida’s “extreme” abortion ban.
“This ban outlaws abortion before many women even know they are pregnant, and threatens physicians with prison time for providing essential reproductive care,” the statement said. “Trump brags that he is ‘proud’ to be responsible for overturning Roe and, if given a second term, he and JD Vance would go further.”
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach h im at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
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