Key events
This will be Kamala Harrisâ third trip to Minnesota as vice president, and the sixth stop on her nationwide âFight for Reproductive Freedomsâ tour.
There are no restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy in Minnesota, and the state has become a refuge for patients from neighboring restrictive states to seek abortions since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade. Abortion is currently illegal in more than a dozen states, including Minnesota neighbors North Dakota and South Dakota, and is restricted in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Joe Biden won the state of Minnesota by 7 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
Kamala Harris is expected to visit a clinic in the Minneapolis-St Paul area during operating hours today.
Her office declined to identify the facility before she arrives there, citing security reasons. The center provides a range of services, including abortion, birth control and preventive wellness care.
The vice president was scheduled to tour the facility, speak with staff and be briefed on how Minnesota has been affected by abortion bans in surrounding states. She will also talk about what the Biden administration has done to protect reproductive rights, her office said.
She also was scheduled to speak at a Biden-Harris campaign event tailored to women.
Harris to visit abortion clinic in Minnesota
Good morning US politics readers. Kamala Harris today will visit a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota that provides abortion services, marking the first time a president or vice president has been to a reproductive health clinic, according to her office.
Harrisâ trip to the Twin Cities is part of a nationwide tour she began in January to draw attention to the fallout after the reversal of Roe v Wade, and comes as Democrats play up their opposition to the rollback of reproductive rights ahead of the November election. Harris, the first woman elected vice president, has emerged as the administrationâs most vocal and prominent defender of abortion access. She has pointedly attacked Donald Trump for saying he was âproudâ of helping to limit abortions, and blasted Republicans as extremists while pledging to push for federal legislation to restore the federal right to abortions.
Hereâs what else weâre watching:
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A federal judge in Florida will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the federal criminal case against Donald Trump involving his handling of classified documents. In addition to Trump, his co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, are expected to attend the hearing.
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10am. The Senate will meet to take up Dennis Hankinsâ nomination as US ambassador to Haiti, with a vote at noon.
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2pm. Joe Biden will participate in a campaign event in Saginaw, Michigan.
