Harris and Beyoncé join forces at a rally in Texas

Authors: COLLEEN LONG, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and NADIA LATHAN

HOUSTON (AP) – Vice president Kamala Harris will join forces with Beyonce on Friday for a rally in solidly Republican Texas that aimed to highlight the medical consequences of that state’s stringent abortion ban and place blame squarely on Donald Trump.

It’s a message intended to reach far beyond Texas, to the political battleground states where Harris hopes the fallout the collapse of Roe v. Wade will encourage voters to support her efforts in the presidential elections.

Harris will also be joined at the rally by women who nearly died from sepsis and other pregnancy complications because they couldn’t get proper medical care, including women who never intended to terminate their pregnancies.

Some of them have already campaigned for Harris, and others have shared their own harrowing stories ads in the campaign that you want to display how this issue turned into something much more serious than the right to end an unwanted pregnancy.

Because abortion was restricted in Texas, the state infant mortality increasedmore children died from birth defects and maternal mortality increased.

WITH presidential elections in a standstill, the Democratic candidate is banking on abortion rights as a major driving force for voters – including Republican women, especially since Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices who voted to repeal the constitutional right. He has been inconsistent about how he would approach the issue if voters return him to the White House.

Her anthem was Beyonce’s 2016 song “Freedom,” whose message fits in with the vice president’s emphasis on reproductive freedom. The singer’s scheduled performance on Friday adds a star-studded touch to Harris’ visit to the state. She will be the latest star to perform with or on Harris’ behalf, including Lizzo, James Taylor, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Eminem. While in Texas, Harris will also record a podcast with host Brené Brown.

Trump is also traveling to Texas on Friday, where he will talk about immigration and record a podcast with host Joe Rogan.

There is some evidence to suggest that abortion rights could drive women to the polls, as they did during the 2022 midterm elections. Voters in seven statesincluding some conservatives, either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to restrict them on statewide ballots over the past two years.

“Living in Texas, protecting women’s health and safety is extremely important,” said Austin voter Colette Clark. She said voting for Harris is the best way to prevent further restrictions on abortion across the country.

Another Austin resident, Daniel Kardish, didn’t know anyone personally affected by the restrictions, but he still sees it as a key issue in this election.

“I am convinced that women have bodily autonomy,” he said.

Harris said this week that she found the issue compelling enough to motivate even Republican women, adding, “for so many of us, our daughter will have fewer rights than their grandmother.”

“When the issue of a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her own body is on the ballot, Americans vote for freedom regardless of the party in which they are registered to vote,” Harris said.

Harris probably won’t win Texas, but that’s not the point of her presence Friday.