U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will visit on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Madison on Friday as a part of the campaign’s “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour, the Harris-Walz campaign told The Daily Cardinal.
Ocasio-Cortez plans to discuss abortion rights and former President Donald Trump’s involvement with Project 2025. She will be joined by activist Kate Cox, who was denied emergency abortion care by the Texas Supreme Court last year.
Harris has continuously campaigned on the issue of abortion, which became a hotbed debate nationwide after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. During a rally in Madison Friday, she recalled meeting with the mother and sisters of Amber Thurman, a woman who died in Georgia after a hospital delayed performing a critical procedure for 20 hours because of strict abortion bans in the state.
“These kinds of laws of the Trump abortion bans means doctors have to wait until a patient is at death’s door before they take any action,” Harris said. “Nobody wants that.”
Opposition to abortion restrictions played a critical role in Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s victory last April, which gave liberal justices a Democratic majority.
Additionally, student turnout on campuses across the state was a driving force in the spring 2023 election in which Wisconsin voters elected Protasiewicz. The campaign hopes Ocasio-Cortez will help mobilize the student vote.
The “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour kicked off on Sept. 3 in Palm Beach, Florida, and will make at least 50 stops in key states throughout the fall.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @annakleiber03.
