Harris Details The Expensive, Heartbreaking Process Of Traveling For An Abortion

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday described in detail what it’s like for many women to have to travel out of their home state to access abortion care, marking the first time in recent memory that such a prominent political figure has magnified the real-life hurdles to obtaining care.

In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s leadership conference, the Democratic presidential nominee provided a riveting warning about what could happen to the country if her rival, former President Donald Trump, wins the election in November. She reminded the crowd that Trump nominated three of the conservative justices who overturned the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade — and the landscape for reproductive health care has been dire ever since.

She broke down, step-by-step, what traveling for abortion care really looks like. Harris noted that around 40% of Latinas in the U.S. live in states that have enacted abortion restrictions since the repeal of federal abortion protections.

“Understand that the majority of women who seek abortion care are mothers. Understand what that means for her,” Harris said to the crowd in Washington, D.C. Around 55% of women who have an abortion have already had one or more births, research shows.

“So, she’s got to now travel to another state — God help her that she has some extra money to pay for that plane ticket. She’s got to figure out what to do with her kids — God help her if she has affordable child care,” she continued. “Imagine what that means: She has to leave her home to go to an airport, stand in a TSA [airport security] line — like, think about this.”

Harris emphasized how terrifying it is for women to travel to a city they’ve never visited and receive medical care from a doctor they’ve never met.

“On any public policy, you have to ask: How is this going to affect a real person?” she said. “Go through the details.”

(Harris’ comments on abortion start around the 20-minute mark in the video below.)

Last year alone, over 166,000 people traveled across state lines to get abortion care amid local restrictions on procedures. Abortion care providers have told HuffPost that many of the women who are forced to travel have never been on a plane before or don’t speak English. Often, they need to travel by themselves because they can only afford one plane ticket. Many have to rely on already struggling abortion funds to pay for travel and lodging costs.

“She’s going to have to get right back to the airport because she [has] got to get back to those kids. And it’s not like her best friend can go with her because her best friend is probably taking care of the kids,” Harris said. “All because these people have decided they’re in a better position to tell her what’s in her best interest than she is. … It’s just simply wrong.”

Harris’ comments were only a small part of her speech Wednesday, but they were extremely powerful.

They show how differently she approaches abortion policy than President Joe Biden. Although Biden supports restoring Roe, he has never been a full-throated advocate for abortion rights and rarely even says the word “abortion.” Harris has been the Biden administration’s biggest defender of abortion rights since the Supreme Court ruling that repealed Roe. She has met with reproductive rights groups at the White House and traveled around the country highlighting the harms of abortion bans, while also advocating for affordable child care and paid family leave. Earlier this year, she paid an official visit to an abortion clinic — widely believed to be the first such visit by a president or vice president.

Trump, who has aligned himself with some of the most powerful anti-abortion leaders in the county, continues to flip-flop on his abortion messaging. Harris has seized the opportunity to question his beliefs multiple times, most recently during a presidential debate last week.

“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do,” Harris said on Wednesday to a huge round of applause. “If she chooses, she will talk with her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam, but not the government telling her what to do.”