This story was reported and written by VPM News.
Long before President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he was not going to seek reelection, Vice President Kamala Harris was already acting as the Democratic ticket’s primary voice for protecting abortion access.
Now that she is seeking the presidential nomination herself, Harris is finding vocal support from Virginia’s top Democrats and reproductive rights advocates alike.
U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the front-runner to be the Democratic nominee for governor in 2025, is one of Virginia’s eight congressional Democrats who have thrown their support behind Harris.
“Vice President Harris has been vocal about the ongoing threats to reproductive rights,” Spanberger said in an emailed statement. “This issue was top of mind for Virginia voters in both the 2022 and 2023 elections — and it will remain a top concern for the Virginians I serve going into November 2024.”
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned the abortion protections provided by Roe v. Wade, a precedent that had stood since 1973.
Since the Dobbs decision, 14 states — including Tennessee and West Virginia — have passed total abortion bans, while 27 others have implemented restrictions based on length of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute — a nonprofit think tank focused on sexual health and reproductive rights.
Virginia is the southernmost state that has yet to pass any laws limiting access to abortions. This has led to a 30% increase of people coming from out of state to seek an abortion in the commonwealth, according to the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called for passing a ban on abortions past 15 weeks of pregnancy, but that plan has been a nonstarter with Democrats in control of both Virginia’s legislative chambers.
Rep. Jennifer McClellan, the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress, said Harris has already been an effective champion for the issue around the country.
“One state having a ban impacts another state that doesn't,” McClellan said. “We see that in Virginia, and so we’re really pleased to see her connecting those dots, talking about the importance of federal action — or inaction, frankly.”
McClellan said she participated in a national conversation hosted Sunday evening by the organization Win With Black Women. She said more than 40,000 women, including prominent Black lawmakers, joined ; the number of attendees crashed the call.
“We raised about a million dollars for her just on that one call, because there’s so much excitement,” McClellan said. “She has a unique perspective, talking about reproductive freedom, but also about how every issue impacts women and impacts women of color.”
Harris has already made multiple stops in Virginia to speak about protecting abortion access.
She joined Biden at a campaign rally in Manassas in January to advocate for abortion rights. The pair blamed former President Donald Trump for endangering the health of pregnant people, with Harris calling Trump “the architect of this health care crisis.”
A majority of voters believe access to abortion should be protected, and a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 1 in 8 voters say abortion is their top issue. Reproductive rights advocates say Harris could help focus attention on the issue and inject new excitement for Democrats.
Tara Gibson, executive director of Roe Your Vote Virginia, said she was surprised by Biden’s announcement to step down, but encouraged by what the possibility of a Harris-led Democratic ticket could mean for the race.
“I feel optimistic and hopeful for the first time in a long time,” Gibson said. “I am excited at the possibility of having a woman at the top of the ticket again who can talk about abortion rights as both an issue of health care and an economic one.”
The issue of abortion access plays an even more important role for Black female voters, with nearly 30% of Black women identifying abortion as their top election issue in the KFF study.
Birth in Color Action Fund, a Virginia organization that lobbies for cultural inclusivity in maternal health and reproductive justice, also announced its support for Harris.
Kenda Sutton-EL, the organization’s founding executive director, pointed to the impact race may have on the results of the 2024 election.
“Now we all have to make swift moves and ensure that just because Kamala [Harris] is a Black woman, doesn’t mean she is not qualified for the job,” Sutton-EL said. “That’s what the race is really going to be about is supporting Black women and ensuring she receives respect during this time.”
Trump has said he supports allowing state legislatures to decide the issue of abortion. Running mate J.D. Vance describes himself as “pro-life,” but told the Cincinnati Enquirer during his 2022 Ohio Senate campaign that the matter should be “primarily a state issue.”
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