Reps. Pressley and Lee to highlight VP Harris’ abortion rights record at Pittsburgh rally

U.S. Reps. Summer Lee (D-12th District) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) will rally in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to highlight Vice President Kamala Harris’ record on reproductive rights, the same day former President Donald Trump will campaign in Harrisburg.

Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, has led  the Biden administration’s response to the Dobbs decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In March, Harris became the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic. And she campaigned at Salus University in Montgomery County in May — while Biden was still at the top of the ticket — speaking with actress Sheryl Lee Ralph about Trump’s record on abortion.

“If you want to know who’s to blame for where we are right now, a finger can be directly pointed at the former president,” Harris said in May.

Abortion is legal for up to 24 weeks in Pennsylvania, and Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a firm supporter of reproductive rights.

Both Pressley and Lee have also been staunch advocates of abortion rights, with Pressley serving as chairperson of the U.S. House Pro Choice Caucus‘ Abortion Rights and Access Task Force. Lee is a member of the Pro Choice Caucus. Pressley is also a founding member of a the House’s Stop Project 2025 task force.

Lee and Pressley have both endorsed Harris’ candidacy for president.

Project 2025 is the conservative Heritage Foundation’s plan for a second Trump term, which outlines objectives like passing the most stringent abortion ban the next Republican administration can get through Congress and lowering the corporate tax rate. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has sought to distance himself from the proposal.

Trump himself has boasted about appointing the three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, and has said he wants states to oversee laws governing abortion access.