Cheney Says Even Republicans Like Her Who Oppose Abortion Should Back Harris

During her time representing Wyoming in Congress, Liz Cheney held an “A” rating for her voting record from a leading anti-abortion group, Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America. Before leaving the Senate to become Vice President, Kamala Harris scored an “F.” 

But that wide gap on a pivotal election issue hasn’t stopped Cheney from campaigning for Harris to keep Donald Trump from returning to the Oval Office.

And at a Harris campaign event Monday in Malvern, Penn.—a town in a key suburban voting district in a crucial battleground state—Cheney explicitly carved out a path for her fellow "pro-life" Republicans to reject Trump.

“There are many of us around the country who have been pro-life but who have watched what’s going on in our states since the Dobbs decision and have watched state legislatures put in place laws that are resulting in women not getting the care they need,” Cheney said. She pointed specifically to Texas, where the state attorney general, she said, “is suing to get access to women’s medical records. That’s not sustainable for us as a country, and it has to change.”

Cheney's carefully tailored words set up a contrast to Harris, who spoke at the same event more forcefully in favor of access to abortion. “Reproductive health work is vast, it is not only about abortion, it is about a whole array of care,” Harris said. “I feel very strongly the government should not be telling any woman what to do with her body.”

Harris and Cheney’s discussion on the outskirts of Philadelphia was the first of three stops for the pair that day in battleground states. After Pennsylvania, they were scheduled to appear in Oakland County, Mich. and Waukesha County, Wis. Early voting begins Tuesday in Wisconsin, considered part of the “blue wall” Harris will need to win the White House.

Cheney framed the vote for Harris as a rejection of Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance. “We are going to reject cruelty. We’re going to reject the kind of vile vitriol we’ve seen from Donald Trump. We’re going to reject the kind of misogyny we have seen from J.D. Vance and Donald Trump,” Cheney said during a discussion with Harris moderated by Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican who leads a group supporting Harris.

Cheney predicted that there are a lot of Republicans who are going to vote for Harris on Nov. 5. “They might not be public about it, but they will vote by what they know is right,” Cheney said. “I know Vice President Harris will always do what she believes is right for this country. She has a sincere heart and that is why I am honored to be here and support her.”