2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has hired abortion activist and New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno as the co-chair of her campaign in Louisiana, according to the Big Easy Magazine.
Moreno has a steady record of abortion activism throughout her political career. Most recently, she pushed New Orleans to adopt a resolution condemning the new state heartbeat law, the report states. The law protects unborn babies by banning abortions after their heartbeats are detectable, but Moreno slammed it as “dangerous.”
She also participated in the pro-abortion Women’s March in her state alongside Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups, according to The Advocate.
“Kamala Harris is just the type of bold, courageous leader our country needs and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse her for President,” Moreno said in a statement this week, according to the Advocate . “I’m inspired by Kamala’s commitment to building coalitions and connections that unite us around priorities that America needs to work for all people, not just the wealthy and well-connected.”
Moreno is not the first pro abortion advocate that Harris has staffed her campaign with. Harris’s campaign communications director is the daughter of former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards.
Harris has also promised to fight to end the Hyde amendment if she wins the Democratic nomination and the 2020 election. The Hyde Amendment—the appropriations legislation first introduced in 1976 by Rep. Henry Hyde — bars federal funding for elective abortions through Medicaid. The amendment has saved over two million preborn children and celebrated its 40th anniversary on September 30, 2016. Prior to the enactment of Hyde, the Medicaid program paid for roughly 300,000 abortions annually.
In a recent op-ed Harris said:
I will fight back with a plan to block dangerous and deadly abortion restrictions before they take effect. Just as the Voting Rights Act required preclearance from the Department of Justice for any law that might infringe on people’s fundamental right to vote, my proposal will require, for the first time, that states and localities with a history of violating Roe v. Wade obtain approval from my Department of Justice before any abortion law or practice can take effect.
And I’m not going to stop there. I will also protect Planned Parenthood from Republican attempts to defund essential health services, nominate judges who respect Roe v. Wade and reverse the Trump administration’s illegal attempts to cut evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants.
After her performance in the first Democratic national debate, Harris is considered by many to be among the top Democratic contenders vying against each other to unseat President Trump. Her campaign raised $15 million in its first day, according to Politico.
