Beyoncé Endorses Kamala Harris as President of Packed Houston Rally – OutSmart Magazine

Thousands of people gathered at Shell Energy Stadium on October 25 as Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally. A reported 30,000 people attended the event, filling the stadium in Houston’s Second Ward. In reality, it felt like much more, as lines wrapped around the perimeter of the stadium. Those in attendance witnessed something remarkable: In a rare political speech, hometown heroine Beyoncé endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign.

The “Rally for reproductive freedom“ focused on abortion rights in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe in 2022. Texas had already passed a near-total abortion ban in 2021, but the Supreme Court’s decision led to a Texas law making abortion a crime punishable by up to life in prison. prison. There are no exceptions for rape or incest, with only limited awards to save the mother’s life.

During the meeting there were several moving testimonies from people affected by these laws. One speaker, Yesenia Gamez of San Antonio, learned she was pregnant in October 2021 — just two weeks after her husband’s deployment. She received treatment for her ectopic pregnancy, but that was before the ban. Now undergoing her second round of IVF, she shared her fears about what could happen if the Supreme Court were to take aim at in vitro fertilization just as it did against abortion.

IVF helps many couples and individuals get pregnant, and one attendee cited it as a reason to support Harris. “As a gay American father who had children through IVF, the Supreme Court is on the ballot, and I don’t want it filled with (more) right-wing extremists who will take away my rights,” wrote author and talk show host Andy Cohen.

Likewise, Beyoncé cited parenthood as a reason to support Harris. “I’m not here as a celebrity,” she said. “I am not here as a politician. I am here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all our children live in – a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies.”

“It’s time to sing a new song,” she declared. “The old notes of ruin, discord and despair no longer resonate. Generations of loved ones before us whisper a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment is now,” she said. “So let’s do this. Ladies and gentlemen, let us extend a loud and loud Texas welcome to the next President of the United States: Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Harris took the stage to thunderous applause and warned of the consequences of Trump’s policies on reproductive rights. “When Donald Trump was president, he hand-selected three members of the Supreme Court with the intention of overturning Roe v. Wade — and, as he intended, they did,” Harris said. “Now more than twenty states have Trump abortion bans. One in three American women lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, including Texas and every Southern state except Virginia.”

“Many of these bans ensure that care is denied until a woman is on the brink of death,” Harris added. “Many have no exceptions for rape and incest, which is immoral. Let’s agree: you don’t have to give up your faith to believe that the government shouldn’t control her body. If she wants to, she will talk to her priest, pastor, rabbi or imam – and not some… people in the state legislature.”

Harris criticized the increase in abortion restrictions in the South. She noted that many states that pass these laws are among the worst for maternal mortality. “For decades, these extremist leaders, who have neglected prenatal, maternity and postpartum care, now claim that they care about women and children. Well, I have a question for them: where have you been?

“Where have you been when it comes to prioritizing the care of women and children? Where have you been when it comes to helping pregnant women and new mothers? Where have you been when it comes to affordable childcare?” she asked. “The same extremist leaders have refused to extend the child tax credit, lifting half of America’s children out of poverty. They have blocked proposals to lower child care costs for working parents and tried to cut WIC and SNAP benefits for low-income mothers and children. Hypocrisy everywhere.”

Harris declared Houston “ground zero in the fight for reproductive care” and urged Houstonians to vote. “Your vote is your vote,” she said. “Your voice is your power.”