Kamala Harris makes big promise in speech for influential Black sorority: "Not playing around!"

Indianapolis, Indiana - Kamala Harris vowed to make access to abortion the law of the land again if elected president as she gave another well-received stump speech on Wednesday.

Kamala Harris (l.) was welcomed by Stacie NC Grant, international president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., for a keynote speech in Indianapolis.
Kamala Harris (l.) was welcomed by Stacie NC Grant, international president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., for a keynote speech in Indianapolis.  © Brendan Smialowski / AFP

Speaking in Indianapolis at the biannual meeting of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, one of the most influential Black campus societies, Harris again laid out the stakes of the 2024 election: "I believe that we face the choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past."

The future envisioned by the vice president, who is in pole position to secure the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden's withdrawal, is very much focused on reproductive rights.

"When I am president of the United States, and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms," she said, referring to the right to choose an abortion, "I will sign it into law."

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"We are not playing around," she added, to huge cheers from the 6,000-plus strong audience.

Harris warns against "extremist" Trump plans

Harris stuck closely to the event's theme – "social justice, health justice, economic justice" – during a speech in which she touted the Biden administration's achievements: student loan debt forgiveness, insulin price caps, and halving child poverty.

The 59-year-old also drew a sharp contrast to the threats of another Donald Trump presidency, centered on the ominous Project 2025 plan closely associated with the Republican Party.

"These extremists will take us back," she warned. "But we aren't going back."

Finishing on an optimistic note, Harris urged: "So let us continue to fight, with optimism, with faith, and with hope – because when we fight, we win."

Cover photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

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