Anti-Abortion Groups Are Freaking Out Over Harris Presidential Run

Andrea Grimes
10–15 minutes

Plus: Arkansas abortion rights advocates take secretary of state to court over ballot petition’s rejection.

Here’s another edition of Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday, a weekly roundup of the top headlines, tweets, toks, takes, and more in abortion news. You can always email me (andrea.grimes@gmail.com, or grimesandrea@proton.me for more sensitive inquiries) or DM me on instagram with action items, takes, and news clips. This post is probably too long for email, so click the headline above or head to the HTBIOT page to get the full read in your browser, because you don’t want to miss this week’s Goodnight and Good Dunk!

Photo by Victoria Pickering via Flickr/Creative Commons

The big takeaway: The abortion-enthusiastic presidential campaign we desperately need looks to finally be on the way. VP Kamala Harris has been Biden’s deputy on abortion messaging for years; if she isn’t already the GOP’s worst possible nightmare on abortion, I suspect she will be soon.

Republicans are banking so hard on the electorate forgetting about the end of Roe that they practically left abortion out of last week’s convention entirely, even as anti-abortion wanna-billy JD Vance joined the Trump ticket. It was a very Biden move! Biden wasn’t only afraid of the word abortion, he was barely able to conceal his discomfort with abortion itself — to the extent that he struggled to come across as a believable messenger on abortion rights at all.

Harris, on the other hand, is an enthusiastic and authoritative advocate for abortion rights and access. Has been for years.

Repro organizers are feeling optimistic, as they should. But I’m taking a moment to appreciate the extent to which anti-abortion groups are experiencing a mass collective panty-wadding.

From The 19th:

“While Joe Biden has trouble saying the word abortion, Kamala Harris shouts it,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president and CEO of the anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America.

Kristan Hawkins, who leads Students for Life of America, said in a statement on Sunday that voters “can expect nothing less than abortion extremism” from Harris, citing her support for access to medication abortion and the procedure more broadly.

Biden was truly just so weird about abortion. Which isn’t unusual for mainstream Dems — lots of them are absolutely hopeless on the issue, despite its importance and relevance to everyday people’s lives, and always will be. It’s hard for advocates to gain ground with issue-shy politicians on any topic; you spend an awful lot of time doing basic education, convincing, and negotiating to get the bare minimum on the table. It’s even harder with abortion, thanks to pervasive stigma, internalized/institutionalized sexism and misogyny, and the long-term ownership of the issue on the right.

But there are really good reasons to be optimistic that the Harris campaign and, dare I say it, a Harris Administration, will be receptive to going beyond the bare minimum. We could be looking at serious conversations about advancing and expanding abortion rights and access. As We Testify’s Renee Bracey Sherman tweeted: “I look forward to not having to beg a Harris Administration to say the word abortion and pushing her on supporting full decriminalization of abortion.”

Of course, whether any of this takes a practical shape in the world will depend on Congress and SCOTUS and a million other factors. But I think conversations about abortion policy at a Harris White House will start miles and miles ahead of where they started with Biden, and probably Obama, too.

The Top Headlines

The Takes

  • Religion writer Sarah Posner is in MSNBC unpacking the “characteristically Trumpian obfuscation” of abortion in the latest national GOP platform: “Trump’s gaslighting comes amid his base’s march to transform America into a dystopia governed by anti-abortion fanatics, eager to impose their will in hospitals, doctor’s offices and bedrooms. While the 2024 platform may be shorter than its predecessor, newfound brevity does not equal altered ideology. The GOP remains a party of anti-abortion radicals, and no document is going to change that.”
  • Repro legal expert Mary Ziegler is in Slate with yet more on the platform: “The bottom line with this platform is that no one can be sure what Trump will do on abortion until after the election, but we know what his judges will do. It may take years to see just how far those judges move the country toward an idea of fetal personhood that voters will never embrace. And that’s just the way the Republican Party likes it.”

The Tweets/Toks/Skeets/Grams

  • Well, this is horrifying! Via the Digital Defense Fund‘s Kate Bertash:
  • The Nation‘s Elie Mystal has the right of it here:

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

  • 👕 SWAG OF THE WEEK! 👕
    • Mothman IS queer and pro-abortion, and the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, Inc. isn’t afraid of printing tees that say so!
  • 🛍️ Anywhere, but Texas-focused: The Lilith Fund is bringing PACKs (post-abortion care kits) back! Volunteer in San Antonio to build kits, or donate or buy something from their Amazon wishlist by Wednesday, August 14.
  • 🎥 Fort Worth, TX: The TEA Fund’s “Docs & Diapers” event includes a screening of Preconceived and a diaper drive on Saturday, June 27.
  • 👶🏽 Dallas, TX: The TEA Fund’s infant care resource drive is Saturday, August 10 at the Church in the Cliff.
  • 🦺 St. Louis area: Illinois’ Hope Clinic is looking for clinic escorts. Here’s how to learn more.
  • 🐝 Anywhere: The “Pollination Station,” Apiary Practical Support‘s volunteer training series, is now taking applications.
  • 🚗 Kentucky: The Kentucky Health Justice Network is looking for volunteer drivers and case managers. Here’s where to sign up.
  • 📱 North Texas: The Texas Equal Access Fund is looking for bilingual Spanish-speaking volunteers for their text line. Here’s where to sign up.
  • 🤠 Texas: Local teen-friendly businesses in in Bryan, College Station, Lubbock, or San Angelo can become pickup spots for repro kits assembled by Jane’s Due Process. Here’s the application form.
  • ⛰️ Southwestern Virginia and Appalachia: The New River Abortion Access Fund is looking for volunteers.
  • 🗳️ Anywhere, U.S.: Hey Jane x Vote America helps prep voters to support pro-abortion policies and candidates
  • 💸 From your wallet:

Goodnight and good dunk — Recipe person Alison Roman dishes it out to what I presume is a bot. Satisfying nevertheless!

That’s all for this week. I’m sure I’ve missed something you’d like to see featured in this roundup, for I am but one woman with a computer and an abortion-news-induced drinking problem. Holler at me — andrea.grimes@gmail.com or grimesandrea@proton.me for more sensitive inquiries, or DM me on Instagram, and I’ll try to add follow-ups as I’m able.

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