What Kamala Harris' candidacy means for abortion rights

• Harris has targeted Trump, GOP over abortion
• VP seen as more natural messenger on issue than Biden
• Abortion could be decisive issue in November election

RICHMOND - U.S. President Joe Biden's seismic announcement this week that he will not seek re-election has left political parties scrambling with less than four months until November's election.

It has also poised Vice President Kamala Harris to supplant Biden as the Democratic party's candidate to take on former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

She has already signaled that abortion rights will be central to her campaign against him.

Harris has long been an outspoken defender of abortion rights and appears more comfortable than Biden on the issue, which Democrats have emphasised since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned a constitutional right to abortion.

What could Harris' candidacy mean for abortion rights, and how might she differ from Biden on the issue on the campaign trail and in a would-be administration?

Here's what to know:

Where does Harris stand on abortion and reproductive health rights?

Since at least her time as attorney general of California, Harris has championed abortion rights and access to reproductive health care.

Earlier this year, she visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota as part of a national tour to promote reproductive health - believed to be the first time a sitting vice president has made such a visit.

In her first stops on the campaign trail since Biden dropped out of the race, she has pushed for legislation that would safeguard abortion rights.

"We will fight for reproductive freedom knowing if Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state," she told supporters and staff in Delaware this week.

Where does Trump stand?

Trump has taken credit for his three U.S. Supreme Court appointments that preceded the court's June 2022 ruling that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognised a constitutional right to an abortion.

But on the campaign trail, he has appeared wary of the political blowback his party has taken on the issue over the last two years.

Polls show that a large majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center.

And abortion rights advocates have notched a string of victories since the Supreme Court ruling, including when voters rejected proposed anti-abortion amendments to state constitutions in Kansas and Kentucky, two conservative states.

Contrary to Harris' remarks this week, Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban and that the issue should be left to individual states - though as president he supported a federal ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Trump's pick for vice president, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, has appeared open to a national abortion ban in the past but is now deferring to Trump's approach.

"My view is that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party and his views on abortion are going to be the views that dominate this party and drive this party forward," Vance told Fox News in a recent interview.

How has Harris' approach on the issue compared to Biden's?

As president, Biden has worked to expand access to abortion and reproductive health, reversing restrictions on funding to overseas groups that promote or perform abortions and pushing new rules intended to shore up privacy for abortion-related health records.

But Biden, who is Catholic, has long expressed personal misgivings about the procedure throughout his lengthy political career.

"I'm a practicing Catholic. I'm not big on abortion," he said at a campaign event last year. "But guess what? Roe v. Wade got it right." 

Abortion rights activists have been somewhat frustrated with Biden, who has followed his party on the issue rather than the other way around, said Claire McKinney, assistant professor at William & Mary who studies abortion politics.

"He has never been at the forefront," McKinney told Context. "Kamala Harris during this campaign has been the messenger already for abortion rights and she speaks much more openly and freely about it."

If elected president, Harris could draw a lot more attention to the issue rhetorically - though she might be limited in the policies she could pursue, said Paul Goren, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota.

"Her strategy, her intention will certainly be to talk about the issue (in the campaign)," Goren said. "Whether she's able to do that in a consistent way and an effective way remains to be seen."

Harris' pledge at campaign events this week to sign into law a measure to "restore reproductive freedoms" may prove difficult to deliver, given the unlikely prospect a closely divided Congress will pass one.

Could Harris' likely nomination help Democrats re-emphasise the issue?

Already, Harris and her allies are highlighting the issue.

The day after she formally entered the race, a pro-Harris group swiftly released a digital ad hitting Trump on abortion.

"There's no doubt her candidacy has supercharged the reproductive freedom movement to defeat Donald Trump and J.D. Vance with abortion as a top motivating issue for voters," Mini Timmaraju, president of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told Context.

Anti-abortion advocates critical of the Biden administration's approach have suggested Harris would put the issue front and center.

"While Joe Biden has trouble saying the word abortion, Kamala Harris shouts it," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

And those who support abortion rights also say Harris will elevate the issue in this election.

"In a moment when Republicans have launched a full-scale attack on our reproductive rights, an issue that will be the driving force for Democratic wins, Vice President Harris is our most powerful advocate and messenger on this issue," said Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List, a political group devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.

(Reporting by David Sherfinski; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)