Second Gentleman Pool Reports of July 23, 2024

SGOTUS pool #1: Reproductive rights roundtable background + participants

Good morning,

Scripps News is your print pool for Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's event here at a reproductive rights clinic in McLean, Virginia, described as a roundtable with individuals who have been impacted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra will also be participating. Full list of attendees from the SGOTUS office is included below.

Your pool is currently holding at the Meadow Reproductive Health and Wellness clinic. According to an HHS official, this facility was created in response to the Dobbs decision to facilitate access to reproductive care for Virginians as well as out-of-state patients who live in states where abortion is restricted. It was started in 2023, and per its website is "the first new abortion clinic Northern Virginia in over a decade, offering full service reproductive healthcare including abortions."

The room is set up with several chairs arranged in a half circle in front of a large sign that reads "Reproductive Healthcare for All." We expect the principals to deliver brief remarks off the top before the roundtable conversation starts, which is expected to last about 30 minutes give or take.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions for me. Background below:

From the Second Gentleman's office:
Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will visit a reproductive health care clinic and meet with individuals who have been impacted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will also attend.

This is the Second Gentleman's first visit to a reproductive health care clinic. In March, Vice President Harris became the first President or Vice President to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic that provides a range of reproductive care such as abortion, birth control, and preventative wellness services. This visit was part of the Vice President's nationwide "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she has held more than 90 convenings in 21 states while bringing thousands of people together in the fight for reproductive freedom.

Roundtable participants include:

• Dr. Stephanie Arnold, Family Medicine Physician & Co-Founder, Seven Hills Family Medicine
• Melanie Fontes Rainer, Director, HHS Office of Civil Rights
• Lisa Kalplowitz, Former Patient
• Dr. Jessica L. Rubino, Medical Director, Meadow Reproductive Health and Wellness

SGOTUS pool #2: Emhoff responds to criticisms of Harris + roundtable remarks

First the news: Second Gentleman Emhoff responded to a question from the pool about his response to former President Trump's criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris. Emhoff pointed to Harris's remarks about Trump yesterday at the campaign's headquarters, and highlighted the way the Democratic party has unified behind her.

"That's all he's got? Look, you heard the Vice President yesterday making the case against Donald Trump very clearly. Laid out the case directly, and in a compelling fashion. But she also laid out a vision for the future, a vision where there's freedom, where we're not having to talk about these issues of today in this post-Dobbs hellscape that Donald Trump created," Emhoff said.

"So we need to, yes, we're going to prosecute the case against Donald Trump and his lies, his gaslighting, his—during Covid, the dereliction of duty, inciting an insurrection and all those other things. We're going to make that very clear, she's going to be able to make that case. But we're also going to move on from this type of environment, this Dobbs- where freedoms are taken away, where autonomy is taken away. Where they're telling you you can't read this book, there telling you you can't learn this fact, they're telling you you can't vote. All that is going to change and it must change."

"You see the enthusiasm, you see the excitement, you saw the money raised, you saw the party coalesce. You saw the broad base of support that she had in just one or two days. Because she's talking about an America that we all have a place in. And that's why Kamala Harris, who I'm so proud of- I'm also so proud of the president. I got choked up yesterday in Wilmington, all of us did. What a great man. Love Joe Biden."

"But, Kamala Harris has united the party. She's going to unite the country. She's going to earn this nomination. You see that happening. And she's going to win this election, thank you."

Emhoff did not respond to further shouted questions about his reaction to the president's announcement and endorsement of his wife or what's next for him in this campaign.

Now back to the roundtable: Second Gentleman Emhoff and Secretary Becerra entered at 11:35am and took their seats at the center of the room. The other participants were already seated.

Dr Rubino, the medical director of the clinic, kicked things off with a brief welcome.

Second Gentleman Emhoff said he felt it was important this event remained on his schedule, "because this is important." He noted that even in Virginia there were challenges getting the new clinic open, something he described as "disturbing."

"I know my wife was very proud and honored to be the first president or vice president to visit a Planned Parenthood facility," Emhoff said. He noted these clinics not only provide abortion care, but also other mandatory reproductive medicine to men and women.

"What we've seen is a full-blown crisis," since Dobbs, Emhoff said. He noted one of the officials participating in the roundtable moved here from Texas, where a "barbaric, immoral" abortion ban is in place. "It's not just about reproductive freedom," Emhoff said, pointing to Justice Thomas's opinion in the case and suggesting contraception and marriage rights could be on the chopping block as well.

Secretary Becerra spoke next, describing VP Harris as a "leader within this administration" when it comes to reproductive rights and abortion care. He said it was crucially important for these sorts of facilities, even in states where abortion remains legal. "The reason this is so important is because losing Roe meant we lost not just access to abortion care. We lost access to care generally."

"We must restore the rights and access that we had under Roe v Wade," Becerra added. He said he believes that can be accomplished by hearing stories from doctors and individuals.

Dr. Rubino described her personal story as an abortion provider in Austin, TX, recalling her experience as most abortions were outlawed there and why she moved to VA. "There was just a day where I said I'm not going to do this anymore. This is wrong," she said. On the process of starting the clinic in VA: "I found out even where you think you can do this, it's incredibly hard to start a clinic," Rubino said. She later told your pooler she's still waiting for the clinic to officially open and receive the required regulatory approvals though she expects that to happen within the next month or two.

Rubino explained how even after Dobbs, the number of abortions performed has not declined. They're just less safe.

Dr. Kalplowitz recalled her personal story receiving an abortion as a medical student in 1974. "I worry about my granddaughters. I have two granddaughters and they will not have the opportunity that I had 50 years ago," she said.

Dr. Arnold, who runs a reproductive rights clinic in Richmond, told Emhoff how "grateful" she is that he's been out front about this issue. She spoke about the stigma she sees around abortion, and how she opened her clinic in late 2022 in the wake of Dobbs. Her work focuses on abortion and gender-affirming care, and she explained her conscious decision to put her name and face central in their marketing, and how that's enabled patients to trust her and her team.

Fontes Rainer, who runs the office of civil rights at HHS, spoke to the travel she and Becerra have done over the past year visiting reproductive rights centers. She also spoke to her personal story going through IVF and then having a miscarriage which required termination. "At no point in the process was I worried that my medical records would be weaponized against me," she explained.Miscarriage "is healthcare," she added, stressing how important it is to share her story. She highlighted the administration's recent rule shielding medical records.

"This administration has given us the tools and the instruction to go out there and be as aggressive as we can," Becerra said.

Emhoff then pivoted to politics: "We're here because of the former president." He pointed to the justices former President Trump appointed to SCOTUS, suggesting he named them because of their stances on abortion. "That's exactly what he wanted and that's exactly what he got"

Emhoff recalled speaking with Harris and his daughter after the Dobbs decision came down. "It's completely antithetical to who we are as a country, where were supposed to always be going forward and not backwards."

During a back and forth with Emhoff and Becerra, Rubino said she believed there were "absolutely" other physicians leaving states with abortion bans, and not just abortion providers but medical providers more broadly. She recalled situations of patients having cancer treatment paused because they became pregnant.

Emhoff closed by arguing that the "vast majority" of the country is on the side of abortion rights, highlighting how referenda have passed overwhelmingly in red states. He spoke of his own legal profession: "The thought that I couldn't practice my chosen profession in one state... It's just outrageous."

"This will change when we elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States," Emhoff argued. As Becerra noted that Emhoff could be anywhere in the country right now, the Second Gentleman again said how important it was that he kept this event on the schedule. "No matter what else was going on, I wanted to be here today to talk about this. It's that important."

Emhoff and Becerra left at 12:02pm after the aforementioned question response about Trump and the event concluded then. An otter of the event is accessible here as needed: https://otter.ai/u/yS4P5aAuaw53rN_IPswbuSnJSXw?utm_source=copy_url

That's it for your pool – enjoy the rest of your day.