Thread by @RewireNewsGroup

@KamalaHarris made history this week, becoming the first Black woman and first Indian American woman vice president of the United States. This is very big news!

As a presidential candidate, Harris was a strong pro-choice voice in what started out as a crowded field of candidates and offered up the idea of a federal pre-clearance system for abortion rights. What was this policy? We’re glad you asked!

Modeled after federal voting rights protections, states with a record of passing unconstitutional abortion restrictions would have to get the federal government’s OK first. The upside? Less a chance the worst abortion restrictions get passed and in front of a friendly Trump judge

The downside? If a DIFFERENT administration wins election and that administration is hostile to abortion rights, then those restrictions would get enacted. So. Not great! But hey. Harris was at least putting ideas out there for protecting rights

Harris also has a record of pushing to end insurance restrictions on reproductive health care, including abortion. As a senator, she co-sponsored the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act. That bill would restore insurance coverage for abortion

So while the Trump administration was fighting to take away health care, Harris proposed legislation that would ensure every person who receives health care or insurance through the federal government has that health care covered, including pregnancy

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As a senator, Harris also sponsored legislation to specifically address Black maternal mortality rates. This is a real big deal too!

Look at all the good stuff in that proposal: 

- grant money for medical schools to address implicit racial bias
- pregnancy medical care home programs 
- I MEAN CHECK IT ALL OUT

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So as we all start to think about what comes next with a new presidential administration, trust that our journalists have you covered so that you can really own your relationship to sex, abortion, parenthood, and power

Follow us here @RewireNewsGroup and you won’t miss a thing