Vice President Kamala Harris is pleading with young voters to supply Democrats enough votes to restore the nationwide right to abortion after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, ushering in state-based limits.
Ms. Harris, speaking at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro on Friday, said President Biden needs more allies in Congress to backfill abortion rights, sometimes referred to as “codifying Roe.”
“What the court took away, Congress can put back in place,” Ms. Harris said. “The vote is gonna matter.”
The vice president’s approval rating is stuck around 40%.
Though she’s been seen as a drag on the ticket, some Democrats say she is finally hitting her stride by focusing on abortion rights and issues that animate young people, including climate and gun violence.
“When you all vote, it scares some folks,” Ms. Harris told the students, warning some people will try to convince them their votes won’t make a difference.
“Don’t fall for it,” she said. “‘Cause when you all vote in your numbers, so much is going to change in our world.”
Presidential candidates in the 2024 GOP primary are floating nationwide limits on abortion, including a 15-week ban, though one — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — says America should reach a nationwide consensus on limits before passing legislation.
Ms. Harris pushed young voters to engage in the abortion fight during a moderated conversation with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, who graduated from the university, and actor Terrance Jenkins, who is also an alumnus of the historically Black college.
It was the second stop on Ms. Harris’s “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour, which will reach about a dozen universities in politically competitive states.
The vice president visited Hampton University in Virginia on Thursday and will make stops in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
Ms. Harris is trying to create momentum for a 2024 campaign that is shaping into a rematch with former President Donald Trump. Young voters carried the Democratic ticket in 2020.
“We had the highest young voter turnout in history. You all did that,” Ms. Harris said Friday. “We are counting on you. We need you. we need your ambitions, your aspirations for yourself and your country.”
