Democrats hope Harris' bluntness on abortion will translate to 2024 wins in Congress and White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden might not often use the word “abortion” when he talks about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vice President Kamala Harris sure does. She's also toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic where the procedure is performed and routinely links the fall of Roe to the larger issue of rising maternal mortality nationwide.

Now that Harris is running for president in place of Biden, Democrats and advocates for reproductive rights are hoping that her bluntness on abortion — coupled with the administration's policies — will help sway voters to deliver them not just the White House but key congressional seats as well.

“The president on the record was fabulous and the campaign was turning out multiple repro-focused ads a week, and had an army of surrogates,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All. “But, you know, nothing is more compelling than the top of the ticket being the most compelling on the issue, and that's what we have now.”

In her first rally as a candidate on Tuesday, Harris touched on the issue of abortion briefly, and on Wednesday during a speech in Indianapolis at a meeting of a historically Black sorority, she touched on her work in boosting maternal health. But she's expected to make abortion a major feature of the campaign going forward, as she works to draw a stark contrast between herself and Republican Donald Trump.