Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Alliant Energy Center on September 20 in Madison, Wisconsin. Harris spoke to a sold-out crowd of 10,500 people during the event.

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Vice President Harris says she would support abolishing the filibuster in the U.S. Senate to restore federal protections for a woman’s right to abortion, as it was under Roe v. Wade.

Harris laid out her position in an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday, saying she believes the Senate should eliminate the filibuster rule on abortion, which requires a 60-vote hurdle for most bills to pass.

“I have said it very clearly, I think we should abolish the filibuster tactic for roeand get us to the point where 51 votes would be exactly what we need to actually put back into law the protection of reproductive freedom and the ability of every man and every woman to make decisions about their own bodies without the government telling them what to do,” Harris told WPR anchor Kate Archer Kent.

Harris’ comments came as she works to sharpen the distinction between herself and former President Donald Trump on one of the most important issues facing voters in this year’s presidential election. And while she has previously spoken out in favor of ending the filibuster – including on the issue of reproductive rights – it’s an issue she has rarely addressed since President Biden’s decision to abandon his re-election bid and support her instead.

For more highlights from Harris’ interview, see Wisconsin Public Radio.

Their message could carry particular weight in Wisconsin, a crucial swing state that saw virtually no legal abortions for nearly 15 months following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to strike down abortion laws. roe.

Harris blamed Trump for the overthrow of roeand said only on Friday that he was the “architect” of a health crisis caused by the Supreme Court’s decision in roe – a law that Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees voted to repeal. In the same speech, she referenced a recent ProPublica report on two Georgia women whose deaths following the implementation of the state’s new abortion law were deemed “preventable” by a state panel of maternal health experts.

Trump tried to counter Harris, telling an audience in Pennsylvania on Monday that “women will be happy, healthy, confident and free” if he is elected to a second term.

“They won’t think about abortion anymore, it’s the only issue they talk about, abortion, because we did something nobody else could have done. It’s now where it always had to be, with the states and they (sic) vote for the people,” Trump said.

Harris on housing and “eternal chemicals”

During her interview, Harris was also asked about a number of other issues facing Wisconsin voters. On the housing market, she reiterated her plans to provide first-time homebuyers with a $25,000 down payment and said she would work with the private sector and developers “to build three million new homes by the end of my first term.”

Harris said she would achieve that goal through a combination of tax breaks for builders and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles in the construction process.

The vice president was also asked about the toxic chemicals known as PFAs that are contaminating Wisconsin’s drinking water and whether she would support stricter regulations on the chemicals.

Harris said the Biden administration is funding billions in water infrastructure projects nationwide to clean drinking water and replace lead pipes. Nearly $2 billion of those funds are going to Wisconsin, she said.

For more highlights from Harris’ interview, see Wisconsin Public Radio.

WPR’s Anya van Wagtendonk contributed to this report.