HOUSTON – Introduced by Beyoncé, Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage at Shell Energy Stadium in what her campaign called the biggest rally yet. Reproductive rights were the sole focus of the rally.
Harris was interrupted a few times by applause and a chorus of thousands chanting, “We are not going back! We are not going back!”
She told the crowd it would be a tight race until the very end.
“We are 11 days out from an election that will decide the future of America including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body and her reproductive freedom.”
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She called Texas ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom.
Since abortion was restricted in Texas, the state’s infant death rate has increased, more babies have died of birth defects and maternal mortality has risen.
Harris highlighted the medical fallout from the state’s strict abortion ban and put the blame squarely on Former President Donald Trump.
“Texas has a law now that offers a cash bounty for turning in someone who merely helped a friend or a family member get the care they need. In Texas, the law provides prison for life for healthcare providers for doing what they believe is in the best interest of their patient. In some counties in Texas, they have passed travel bans to prevent women from going to other states to receive care.”
At one point she paused for a video with several people talking about their personal consequences from the Texas abortion ban, and the video ended with a clip of Former President Trump saying in an interview, “On the Roe v. Wade, I did a great thing.” She called Trump the architect of a health care crisis across the country and said women today have fewer rights than their mothers or grandmothers.
Harris applauded young voters who will be casting their ballots for the first time on Nov. 5.
She also appealed to the crowd—which the campaign said was 30,000—to vote for Colin Allred in the senate race because his opponent, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, has voted six times for a national abortion ban, according to Harris.
Harris’s speech was just short of thirty minutes, and she ended it with this message:
“So, let’s remember Texas, your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power. So today I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard? Do we trust women? Do we believe in reproductive freedom? Do we believe in the promise of America and are we ready to fight for it? And when we fight, we win.”
WATCH VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS’ FULL SPEECH HERE: