In Texas, Harris embraces Beyoncé and warns swing-state voters that ‘Trump abortion bans’ are coming for them
By Gregory Krieg, Priscilla Alvarez and Kaanita Iyer, CNN
(CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris, after being endorsed and embraced onstage in Houston by music superstar Beyoncé, warned voters across the country Friday night that Texas-style abortion bans would end up in their states if Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Harris has leaned hard into her abortion rights message in the final days of the campaign, amplifying the stories of women affected by the state-level restrictions that followed the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. Texas was chosen as the location for the rally, campaign officials said earlier, because of its harsh abortion ban.
“Know this,” Harris said, addressing a national audience. “If you think you are protected from Trump abortion bans because you live in Michigan or Pennsylvania or Nevada or New York or California, or any state where voters or legislators have protected reproductive freedom, please know: No one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban.”
Texas has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, banning the procedure at six weeks – before many women know they are pregnant – with exceptions only in the case of life endangerment for the mother. A “trigger law” passed in 2021 took effect after the gutting of federal abortion rights in June 2022.
Before Harris, Beyoncé or Rep. Colin Allred, the Democrat running for Senate in Texas, took the stage, the campaign offered the microphone to women who shared stories about potentially deadly health emergencies caused by new anti-abortion state laws that prevent doctors from acting swiftly when a pregnant woman’s health is in danger.
Amanda and Josh Zurawski, the Texas couple who led a lawsuit against the state after Amanda suffered life-threatening pregnancy complications because she was refused care, were among those telling their story. Shanette Williams – the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, who died in 2022 from a treatable infection following delays in treatment stemming from Georgia’s abortion ban – was also in attendance.
Harris in her remarks pointed to Josh Zurawski as she sought to grab the attention of male voters.
“Men across America do not want to see their daughters and wives and sisters and mothers put at risk because their rights have been taken,” Harris said. “I see the men here. And I thank you. The men of America do not want this.”
Beyoncé, whose song “Freedom” is played at Harris rallies, made a rare appearance at the event. After being introduced by her mother, the Houston native – joined onstage by former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland – said the country was on the “brink of history.”
“I’m not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician,” said the singer, who did not perform Friday. “I’m here as a mother.”
Texas music legend Willie Nelson also attended Friday’s rally and played two songs for the crowd, asking them, “Are we ready to say, ‘Madam President’?”
Earlier in the day, Trump took aim at his Democratic rival, saying at an event in the Texas capital of Austin that she was in the state “to rub shoulders with woke celebrities.”
Before Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket following President Joe Biden’s decision to stand down, she was the administration’s go-to voice on abortion rights.
Her campaign released a new ad before the rally, called “He Did It,” that drew a straight line from Trump’s presidency – and his choices to sit on the Supreme Court – to the court’s decision striking down Roe, which opened the floodgates for statewide abortion bans. The campaign bought local television ad time in Texas for the first time to coincide with Harris’ visit.
On the campaign trail, Harris has often labeled extreme measures on abortion rights being adopted across the country as a “health care crisis,” and she has argued that Trump is “the architect of this crisis.”
Harris also connected Texas’ current effort to block a new administration rule meant to shield the health information of women who travel out of state in search of safe, legal abortions, to Trump’s ongoing refusal to share his own records.
“On the one hand, Donald Trump won’t let anybody see his medical records. I gave up mine. And on the other hand, they want to get their hands on your medical records,” Harris said. “Simply put, they are out of their minds.”
While in Houston, Harris also sat down for an interview with popular podcaster Brené Brown, the latest stop on her new media tour.
This story and headline have been updated.
CNN’s Samantha Waldenburg and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.
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