Kamala Harris visits Montgomery County with Sheryl Lee Ralph to discuss reproductive rights

Abbott Elementary School star On Wednesday afternoon, Sheryl Lee Ralph met with Vice President Kamala Harris in Montgomery County to discuss reproductive rights and the stakes of the 2024 election.

In the health and sciences gymnasium of Salus University in Elkins Park, the two women sat in front of a Biden-Harris campaign poster with the words “Reproductive Freedom” wedged between American and Pennsylvania flags.

They talked about the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn decision Roe v. Wadethe country’s high maternal mortality rate and its racial disparities, the Biden administration efforts to expand Medicaid maternity carePlanned Parenthood, women’s trust and the stakes of the election competition between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Harris and Ralph hit it off, with the vice president – who said the duo had known each other for a long time – calling the celebrity a “girlfriend.”

Ralph is a Broadway star and Emmy Award winner who plays Mrs. Howard Abbott Elementary School, a mockumentary comedy series set in Philadelphia schools. She is the wife of State Senator Vincent Hughes (R-Philadelphia) and spoke at the 2022 Congress. It prohibits our bodies rally in Harrisburg, as well as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s January inauguration.

Wednesday’s visit was Harris’ fifth in five weeks According to the campaign, it was a campaign event focusing on reproductive rights and marked her 13th visit Pennsylvania – a critical state – since taking office. Last month, she visited Philadelphia to promote a plan to cancel student debt.

Harris told how she visited a reproductive health clinic and told reporters she would shamelessly replace parts of her reproductive system and throw away her “ovaries!” Ralph joined in and they took turns shouting out body parts like “uterus!” and “fallopian tubes!”

“We need to have these conversations out loud,” Ralph said. “Being a woman is not something to be ashamed of. Look, if a man can get Viagra, I need health care too!”

Harris accused Trump of reversing reproductive rights across the country because he appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices, all of whom voted to overturn Roe. According to the ruling, 21 states have introduced restrictions on abortion, and 14 of them have completely banned abortion. New York Times.

Ralph emphasized that this is provided by Planned Parenthood, which is often targeted by anti-abortion conservatives
other community health services.

“They don’t go to these clinics just because they were a ‘bad girl’ or a ‘naughty lady,'” Ralph said. “You go to these clinics because you need health care.”

Harris argued that abortion bans demonstrate a lack of confidence in women’s ability to make their own decisions.

“We just have to call it what it is,” Harris said. “Don’t you trust women to know what’s in their best interest?”

After their conversation, Jon Batiste’s “Freedom” played over the speakers in the gymnasium.

Abortion rights have proven to be a winning message for Democrats in Pennsylvania, such as in last year’s Supreme Court race, when Justice Dan McCaffery, a Democrat, defeated GOP nominee Carolyn Carluccio after she campaigned almost entirely on protecting abortion rights.

Biden spoke about access to abortion and in vitro fertilization in Delaware County the day after the State of the Union address.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, criticized Wednesday’s event in a statement.

“President Trump has long consistently supported states’ rights to make decisions about abortion,” Leavitt said. “Joe Biden and the Democrats have radically broken away from most Americans in their support for abortion up to and even after birth and forcing taxpayers to fund it.”

In Elkins Park, local Democratic elected officials emphasized Harris’ message about the stakes of the election.

“It seems like every election cycle my daughter’s future hangs in the balance,” said state Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, who represents parts of Montgomery and Delaware counties and was the first person to give birth while serving as a state senator.