During a candid conversation on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper on Sept. 6, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed her plans to enhance safety for women in the U.S. amid rising sexual abuse cases and the ongoing threat to reproductive rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Harris has dedicated much of her political career and presidential campaign to challenging Republican efforts that adversely affect women’s lives through restrictive laws. When asked about her approach to tackling issues like sexual abuse, Harris shared that the topic is deeply personal for her, as her childhood friend Wanda experienced sexual abuse growing up. For Harris, the first step in combating sexual abuse and violence against women is to create more safe spaces for open and honest discussions about these issues.

“Part of the issue is that people don’t talk about it. I don’t mean the survivors of it, I mean nobody does,” Harris told Cooper. “And the more that we let anything exist in the shadows, the more likely it is that people are suffering and suffering silently and we need to talk about it. We have to talk about it.”

The Democratic presidential nominee discussed her commitment to restoring safety for women nationwide. Harris highlighted the need to create laws that enable women to achieve financial independence and break economic ties with their abusers.

“When a woman and particularly if she has children, if she is economically reliant on her abuser, she is less likely to leave, because most women will endure whatever personal, physical pain they must in order to make sure their kids have a roof over their head or food,” the first Black and South Asian VP shared during her appearance on Call Her Daddy.

“So, one of the ways we know that women are able to walk away from abuse, and there are many layers to her being able to do that, but one of them is does she have the economic freedom to be able to do that? One of the ways we know we can uplift the ability of women to have choices is uplift women the ability to have economic wealth and wellbeing.”

Harris is committed to restoring reproductive rights.

Vice President Harris reaffirmed her long-standing commitment to protecting reproductive rights as a central theme at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which kicked off in Chicago on Aug.19. On the first night, brave women took the stage to share their deeply personal and painful experiences, including pregnancies resulting from pre-teen rape and the trauma of miscarriages, all while facing legal threats in states with stringent abortion laws that lack adequate protections for women’s health.

Before launching her presidential campaign, the 59-year-old Democrat was already an advocate for reproductive rights during her time as a Senator in California, where she co-sponsored legislation aimed at preventing states from imposing abortion restrictions. She also opposed S.2311, a bill seeking to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. As vice president, Harris has strongly criticized the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and has emerged as the White House’s leading defender of reproductive health rights.

While chatting with Cooper on Call Her Daddy, Harris went into detail about what’s at stake if the right to an abortion is not reinstated. She painted a grim picture of what millions of women around the U.S. face when they have to seek reproductive care while living in a state with an abortion ban in place.

“The majority of women who receive abortion care are mothers. So, if she is in a state, and by the way, every state in the south except for Virgina, has an abortion ban. So, imagine she is in a state with an abortion ban (1 out of 3 women in our country are, by the way) and she’s a mom,” Harris explained. “So, she is going to have to figure out one, god help her if she has affordable childcare, god help her if she has paid leave, and then she is going to have to, go to the airport, stand in a TSA line, sit on a plane next to a perfect stranger, to go to a city where she has never been, to receive the care she needs. She’s going to have to probably get right back on that plane because she’s got those kids. Her best friend’s probably not with her because that’s who is taking care of the kids. To get back in that TSA lane, to get back on a plane to go home.”

Harris’ efforts to restore Roe v. Wade and protect reproductive rights could have a profound impact on millions of women worldwide who face barriers to affordable, safe, and accessible reproductive care. As we approach the November election, voters are hopeful for change. A July poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicated that around 60% of Americans believe their state should generally permit legal abortions for any reason if someone does not wish to be pregnant. This represents a notable increase from June 2021, prior to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, when only about half of Americans supported such access.

Listen to Harris’ full interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper below.

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