ISABELLE MULLEN: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz big bet on reproductive rights in personal freedom mantra
The American people have been sold a simple message: a vote for the Democrats is a vote for freedom.
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, key speakers have said the word “freedom” hundreds of times.
Today, Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination for US President.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.She told a story of freedom by recounting her own upbringing as the daughter of immigrants, raised by a single mother in a middle-class suburb.
“My mother was a brilliant five-foot brown woman with an accent, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health,” she said.
The Vice President has made it clear abortion and reproductive rights are at the heart of the Democrat’s election campaign and for them the right to choose is freedom.
Harris told her party faithful that as a prosecutor in Oakland, California, she defended women and children who had been abused, taking aim at her Republican rival Donald Trump.
“He and his allies would limit access to birth control and enact a nationwide abortion ban … simply put, they are out of their minds.”
The wording here is sharp and effective because, for millions of Americans, it impacts them directly.
Donald Trump is again painted as a tyrant as the Democrats argue key freedoms are at stake.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, rammed home the same message earlier in the week.
Speaking about reproductive freedom he said: “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbours and the personal choices they make.”
“Even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.”
His language is designed to cut through. Like Harris, he is colloquial, frank, and full of patriotism.
Both Harris and Walz are suggesting the Democrats will uphold freedom as intended by the US Constitution.
“I want you to make choices, the government shouldn’t be telling you what to do,” Walz said.
It’s a clever move by the Democrats.
The language of “freedom” is usually employed by Republicans, who point to their gun policies and economic management.
But the issue of abortion and a woman’s right to use contraception has changed that, as Trump threatens to pass national anti-abortion laws.
In this presidential contest, it has divided millions of voters. The Democrats have been using examples of rape and incest to highlight the importance of protecting reproductive rights.
Hadley Duvall gave a harrowing speech at the convention as part of a panel of speakers from Republican states. Hadley — who is from Kentucky — recounted how she was raped and impregnated by her stepfather at age 12.
She reflected on how devastated she would have been if abortion wasn’t an option.
“He calls it (abortion bans) a beautiful thing. What is so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?”
But Trump hasn’t always been anti-abortion.
In 1999, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was “pro-choice in every respect”.
“I hate the concept of abortion … I just believe in choice.”
That changed around 2016 when he became a presidential candidate, saying women who seek abortions should be subject to “some form of punishment” and in 2018 he advocated for a 20-week national abortion ban.
It was in April this year that Trump said the issue of abortion should be handled by individual US states.
“Whatever they decide must be the law of the land.”
Kamala Harris has promised to stop Donald Trump’s abortion bans.
Until now, no presidential candidate has ever placed abortion at the heart of their campaign, regardless of whether they are a Democrat or a Republican.
The Democrats believe it’s a risk worth taking.
Governor Walz revealed his wife had undergone her own fertility treatment.
“I’m letting you in on how we started a family because this is a big part of what this election is about: freedom,” he said.
“When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office.”
It’s a tight contest but the Democrats have a new momentum, something they hope to maintain in the lead-up to the first presidential debate between these two candidates on September 10.
