U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Congresswoman and mayoral candidate Karen Bass committed to fight for women’s reproductive rights during a moderated discussion on Oct. 17.
Before a crowd exceeding 200, the elected officials joined with Celinda Vázquez, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, to condemn the nationwide assaults to diminish women’s healthcare rights and emphasize the importance of voting to resist such attacks.
“This is about freedom and liberty,’” Harris said during the event at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. “Twenty-two days, there is an election. That is a fact.”
She added, “We need to hold on to what we have, and we need two more senators,” imploring attendees to support pro-choice candidates in the upcoming election to protect Democrats’ voting power in Washington.
“We’re going to have to protect these rights by having national legislation,” she said. “… We need people in Congress to recognize that responsibility,” added Harris, who went on to cite the myriad of actions by the Biden administration to protect abortion and healthcare rights for women.
While the discussion steered cleared of patently mentioning Bass’ mayoral campaign, many in the audience considered the appearance of the vice president as an indication of her strong support for Bass’ candidacy. Last month, Harris and President Joe Biden publicly endorsed Bass for mayor of Los Angeles. Definitely the audience demonstrated love for Bass by giving her an extended standing ovation when she entered the stage.
Several elected officials came out for the event. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti gave opening remarks as well as U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Senate Pro Tempore Toni Atkins. Local officials included State Senator Steven Bradford, County Supervisor Chair Holly Mitchell, L.A. Councilmember Heather Hutt and former Councilmember Nate Holden.
City News Service contributed to this report.
