Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro kicks off ‘Reproductive Freedom’ bus tour in Philly for Kamala Harris’ presidential bid

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday afternoon kicked off Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign’s “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour inside the Independence Visitor Center in Old City, where he criticized former President Donald Trump’s record on abortion and said that the western part of the state has seen an influx of women seeking “basic health care.”

“We have seen a dramatic increase, thousands of women, coming from West Virginia and Ohio, where they do not have the same level of reproductive freedom in those states, coming here to get basic health care, coming here to have an abortion if they so choose,” Shapiro told the crowd. “I made clear, our doors are open in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for women across all of these United States.”

Shapiro’s remarks were met with claps, cheers, and nods of agreement from attendees inside the “Liberty View” event room. The popular governor, who has been stumping for the Harris-Walz ticket, blamed the increase on Trump’s “abortion bans.”

“I want you to know, there is only so much we can do here if Donald Trump is given the keys to the White House,” Shapiro said.

The Nov. 5 election will be the first presidential contest since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and states across the country enacted abortion bans.

Just before 2 p.m., as the rally unfolded, several news outlets reported that possible gunshots were fired in the vicinity of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla. At a news conference late Sunday afternoon, an FBI official said the agency was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of Trump.

The incident came about two months after Trump was wounded in a shooting at a rally in Butler, Pa. A Secret Service official said agency personnel fired several shots at the alleged gunman, who was taken into custody shortly after. An AK-47-style rifle with a scope and a GoPro camera were found near the bushes where a Secret Service agent ahead of Trump on the golf course had noticed a rifle barrel sticking out.

On the social platform X, Harris posted, “I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

Shapiro’s pitch to the Philadelphia crowd marked the start of the Pennsylvania leg of a nationwide Harris campaign bus tour focusing on one of the Democrat’s top issues, reproductive rights. The campaign plans to make more than a dozen stops across the key swing state in a bid to sway undecided voters in both parties.

Harris has promised to reinstate federal abortion protections. During his tenure as president, Trump appointed three of the six justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.

Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky reproductive-rights advocate, joined Shapiro at the event. Duvall recalled how, at age 12, she stared at a positive pregnancy test while alone inside a bathroom. Her stepfather, who sexually abused her for half of her life, had impregnated her, she said.

Not even old enough to be considered a teenager, the tween was faced with motherhood.

”I was too young to really understand what was happening to me, but hearing that I had options was the first and the only thing that kept me able to hold on to hope,” Duvall, now 22, told the audience.

In a world before Roe v. Wade was overturned, Duvall was able to access an abortion in her native Kentucky. Since then, her state has enacted a ban that restricts abortion in almost all circumstances, including in cases of incest.

”I’ll ask [Trump] again and again, what is so beautiful about making a 12-year-old carry the child of their parent?” Duvall said. “To tell a girl who has already been robbed of her childhood that you are now taking her future away, that’s unimaginable, but it’s happening. It’s happening across the country. It’s happening in this state.”

In Pennsylvania, abortion is accessible through the 23rd week of pregnancy, and in certain cases, when the health of the mother is at risk. Duvall warned that a Trump victory in November could imperil abortion rights. Duvall urged voters to remember, “Survivors don’t get to choose what state they are violated in.”

A boisterous crowd of all ages, some holding signs reading, “Stop Trump’s abortion ban,” gathered to show their support for Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

As more than 200 rally goers awaited Shapiro’s arrival, “Verte Ir,” a song by reggaeton singer Nicky Jam, played over the loudspeakers inside the Visitor Center. The music choice likely was a subtle jab at Trump, who last week mistakenly introduced Nicky Jam as a “she” when the former president welcomed the singer onstage at a campaign rally in Las Vegas. The singer, who is male, was there to officially endorse Trump.

Among the crowd was 69-year-old Caren Moskowitz, a Philadelphia resident who said fighting for the reproductive rights of the younger generation should be important to all Pennsylvanians.

”I don’t want my daughters to have less freedoms than I had growing up,” said Moskowitz, a mother of three who brought her whole family to the rally and volunteered at the event, urging people to register to vote.

”I think it’s important for people to get out and vote, this is their freedoms at stake,” she said.

Another attendee, Beverly Warner-Simon Freeman, of Philadelphia, said she was a 19-year-old student when she saw a 16-year-old girl die of complications from an illegal abortion.

More than 70 years later, the toppling of Roe v. Wade rekindled the painful memory for the 91-year-old former occupational therapist, she said.

”We didn’t go through all this to keep our heads in the sand,” she said. “This is our right!”

During the rally, Shapiro referenced a post Trump made earlier Sunday on Truth Social about a famous Pennsylvanian who has endorsed Harris — “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” — and tied it to the reproductive rights fight.

“Let me be very clear, attacking Taylor Swift, especially in her home state of Pennsylvania, is not a smart move,” Shapiro said. “Neither is stripping away freedom from millions of women, because women are gonna vote in this election.”