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tv   Vice President Harris Visits Abortion Clinic in Minnesota  CSPAN  March 14, 2024 8:15pm-8:34pm EDT

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on c-span. ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these levision companind more including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center? no. it's way morecomcast is partner0 community centers to create wi-fi enabled spots so they can get the tools they need to be ready for anything >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to >> vice president harris toward a minnesota planned parenthood clear it -- clinic that offers abortion services. it was historic. she's the first vice president to make such a visit. reproductive health care rights administration and their reelection bid since the supreme
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court overturned roe v. wade in 2022. this is about 15 minutes. >> i want to thank the governor for your leadership. the governor for your leadership. been a great advisor for the president and be, and thank you for all of that. congresswoman, she is an extraordinary leader. she is str and always working on behalf of the people of the state and i thank you for traveling with me. >> it was an honor. vice pres. harris:■) mayor, we shared a lot of stories about your leadership and i know you have a lot of support in the city for the work you have done. thank you for that. many have asked why am i here at this facility in
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particular? i will telh?l yo is because right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis. and the crisis is affecting man country, most of whom are silently suffering. after the united states supreme court took constitutional right that has been recognized from the people of america, from the women of america, in states around our countries -- have proposed and passed laws that h ave denied women access to reproductive health care. and the stories abound. i've heard stories and have met women -- [inaudible] women who are being denied emergency care because their health care provider is there,
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they are afraid because of the laws they could be criminalized, sent to prison for providing health care. i'm here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in minnesota. as an example of what truly leadership -- leadership looks like, which is to understand. it is always right and fair that people have access to the health care they they have access to health care in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and -- do understand that when we talk about a clinic such as this, it is absolutely about health care and reode. uterus. body has a lot of medical care from time to time.
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fibroids. breast cancer screenings. contraceptive care. that is the kind of work that happens here. in addition, of course, to abortion care. to have laws states that have cost clinics like this to shut down so that women have no access to any -- regardless of where they live to get this vital care, that is necessary for their health. say thank you to the governor, the congresswoman, the mayor. and the doctorers who work here, and the staff. this work includes having people here who go out and talk to young people, ouyog in some of r country, sex ed -- our young
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people to learn about our bodies and reproductive systems from social media. often withund amount of misinformation which leaves them confused about what is happening to their own bodies. the work t here is about providing assistance to this state exists in ainhe neighborhood where laws have been passed to denyeople's repeat active health care. so, women have to travel here, the majority of women to receive an abortion -- god h her, that she has got affordable childcare. god help her. she has gso she can figure out,s she going to get to the place that would provider the care she
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needs? the work that happens in a clinic like this includes asking those questions for someone who might be in great distress, lettin know what is available for her in terms of transportation and housing hotel, or assistance for her childcare needs. so, i'll close with this. in this environment, these tacks against individuals right to make decisions about their own body are outrageous and int plain old immoral. how dare position to tell women what they need, to tell women what is in their best interests. that trusts women. [applause] vice pres. harris: this
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extraordinary health care provider and doctor, please. >> thank you, thank you so much. i'm to doing this. good afternoon, everyone. i'm sarah, the chief medical officer here■zanned parenthood north-central states. i'm a board certified obstetrician gynecologist with a subspecialty in complex family policy. and i also have my masters of science and i'm a proud abortion honored that vice president, harris has visited our clinic today. it is an historic moment. ■< important access to reproductive health care is to people and their families across the country. so, thank you so much for being thank you. after the dobbs decision a year
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and half ago, minnesota but abn rights are not only a minnesota issue. it is a national issue. our planned parenthood hasse ine in minnesota since roe was overturned. we've seen nearlyin patients com outside of our state. this is not by accident. surrin abortion while minnesota, with the help of our governor, has been increasing access. since roe■a was overturned, i've cared for patients from ever, from nearby states like south dakota and north dakota, and wisconsin, but from far away states like texas, alabama, wyoming, florida, oklahoma, missouri, and the list goes on. i've seen patients who have flown from places like louise and only to have me tell her that her complex pregnancy condition would keep her from
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having her abortion herwiforcina dangerous pregnancy with a possible - where care is not available to her and her home state. traveling to access essential health care can be intimidating and overwhelming. it is not an easy thing to do, ded that it is. like the expense of our patient who traveled from a small town a owntown minneapolis with a dead cell phone after her flight landed. we were able to get her a lyft driver, and she described that driver savior for her. like our patient who drove hundreds and hundreds of miles through blizzard cti to get her abortion. our new abortion landscape is difficult. it is dangerous. an patients and health care providers at severe risk. i've talked to mike collins,
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practicing inre abortion is now illegal and they are struggling with decisions about pro care and conflict in with the law. this should never happen. thankfully abortion providing abortion care has gotten less i'm trusted as provider an expert to work with my patients to provide the best care possible. to know that i'm trusted t a co. but it should be the standard for everywhere. private medical decisions should be made between patients and and their doctors. without interference from politicians or the protesters standing outside on the street in front of our clinic today. i didn't always feel this way. i came to understand -- bodily autonomy after a long history of being anti-abortion and having a very distorted point of view
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about abortion care. it was not until a friend told me her abortion story that i came to see the light. after hearing her knowing her history, i knew that an abortion was the right choice for her, for he life, for her future and nobody else's. it dawned on me. if she isaking the rit for her n there are countless other people who are making the right decision in their lives, and no one should be intefrom that poig into understanding bodily autonomy and freedomw to the point that i am today. everyone should have the right to access health care. your zip code should not dictate the care that you can access, your race, your socioeconomic
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so for 2024 and beyond, we will keep fighting and keep working until we live in a world where everyone can access the re futures and their bodies and in their own community. thank you. [applause] > hi. [inaudible]do you think a sitting president or vice president to visit a clinic -- vice pres. harris: because this is a health■k care crisis and of the many stories, excusing -- -- excuse me.
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many stories that we need to tell of the -- what has happened after the dobbs decision as that -- the clinics like thi■s that have had to shut down. and what that has meant to leave no options with any reasonable geographic area for so many women who need this essential care. again, it runs the gamut of reproductive health care. as i mentioned earlier, central and critical health care like paps, like breast cancer screenings, things of that nature. i'm here to highlight that as the many, ided consequences of the dobbs decision, one of them has been for health care provider such as this in the states that have banneduor outlawed accessory particular care, the clinics had to shut down and it is a travesty. it is a travesty. >> ourto your left, the ap.
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>> hi, thank you. [inaudible] ve us a sense of what you have lost -- by coming here today? vice pres. harris: i don't know, maybe two dozen health care workers, who really care, really care about their patients. and who understand that in the health care delivery system, regardless of your gender or we shou ld all respect that you will be treated with dignity. usually treated in an environment -- you will be treated in an environment where you feel safe. and by that, i mean safe to be free from judgment. to be i you are actually listened to. where your needs andession of ye
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taken seriously. and walking through this clinic, that is what i saw. people who have dedicated their lives to the profession of providing health care in a safe place that gives people dignity. i think we should all want that for each other. >> thank you. >> the new york times. >> what do you see is your role on this issue, given that the administration has run up to the limits of what he can do to protect abortion rights and congress is unlikely to pass --- vice pres. harris: well, congress will pass that bill or we will take back the house. i am sure of that. and i think that the point, one of the points that must be made on this issue, as we attempt to uplift the realreal consequences decision, is to remind people -- elections matter. elections matter. what happened here in minnesota
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with the reelection of the governor and the turning of the state legislature is what has led to ensuring that these fundamental lives are protective predilections matter. let me be clear about this. elections and -- there is a fundamental issue that i think most people agree with. wh one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the govement women what to do with their bodies. if she chooses, she will consult with her priest, her pastor, or rabbi or imam, but it is not for the government to tell her what she can and cannot do with her own body. my role is to do what i just did, to articulate these points.
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rganize folks around what i know is an issue that is impacting more people than you will ever really know. so, so we will have the ability to have -- as i do. i taken the responsibly of uplifting the stories and reminding people, by the the vast majority of american did have empathy and even if they don't agree that this would be the best decision for them, would agree that other people should not be suffering the way they are. >> roe was always an imperfect statute. what do you think should replace it? vice pres. harris: what we w■ is to■g put back in place the
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protections the supreme court took away, which is to codify, put into law, want. >> >> friday night, c-span 2024 campaign trail, c-span's campaign coverage. discover what the candidates across the country are saying to voters. first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers, fundraising data, and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail on friday night on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download the podcast at c-span rever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics.
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>> friday, house speaker mike hnson hosts president biden and the irish prime minthe annud luncheon. live coverage starts at 1:30 m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> sunday on q&a, rob henderson on growing up as a child in the u.s. foster care system, hurdles he overcame to became successful, and what he learned about class divisions in america as a result. >> lived in sevenomes just shy of five years. there was this question of, why does the system work this way? if a child is in one placement for too long, it can create issues of attachment and loyalty. if a foster child is with one family for six months or a year

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