WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris released a new campaign ad Wednesday featuring graphic images of a Texas woman the campaign says was “cut open from her breast to her pelvis” during an emergency operation after being denied an abortion.
The woman and her husband were identified only as Ondrea and Ceasar. It was not immediately clear where they live in Texas. The Harris campaign said the couple was not available for interviews.
The 60-second spot shows the couple sorting through a box as Ondrea pulls out and smells a baby blanket. The words on the screen say Ondrea became pregnant in 2022 and had a miscarriage at 16 weeks.
“Because Donald Trump killed Roe v. Wade, Ondrea was denied standard medical care to prevent infection. An abortion,” the words continue. “Ondrea developed a life threatening septic infection.”
The ad cuts to photos of Ondrea’s open wounds from the operation.
“A six hour surgery saved her life, but she’ll live with permanent damage forever,” according to the words on screen. “It’s been two years and she still hasn’t fully recovered. She may never get pregnant again.”
In the ad, Ondrea stands in front of a mirror contemplating her long scar with the on-screen message: “She lives with the daily reminder of what Trump did.”
The Trump campaign forwarded a request for comment on the ad to the Republican National Committee.
Taylor Rogers, RNC spokesperson, did not discuss the ad or abortion and instead criticized Harris’ “wide-open border policies allowing a flood of dangerous illegal migrant criminals.”
“Texas is Trump Country and that won’t change in November!” Rogers said.
The Harris ad includes audio clips of Trump speaking about abortion and touting his role in overturning Roe. The ad also includes a statement he made during the 2016 campaign that there must be “some form of punishment” for women who receive abortions.
Trump was widely criticized at the time for that statement and swiftly reversed course, saying those performing an abortion should be held legally responsible and not women undergoing the procedure.
Trump has walked a delicate line on abortion during his 2024 campaign.
He has sought credit for appointing the justices who helped form a conservative Supreme Court majority that struck down Roe, while parrying attacks by Democrats that he’s responsible for the consequences in states such as Texas that have strict laws against abortion.
Democrats have featured the stories of Texas women denied medically necessary abortions at the State of the Union address, the party’s national convention and in campaign ads.
The latest spot comes as Harris plans a Friday rally in Houston centered around abortion and stories of Texas women who were denied abortions and suffered health complications or had to leave the state to get the procedure.
Democrats see abortion as a powerful campaign issue, and the new ad and Friday’s rally represent an effort to refocus.
Harris is set to be joined at the rally by U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who is running against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Allred has made protecting abortion access a central theme of his campaign and criticized Cruz for backing tight restrictions.
During his regular podcast Wednesday, Cruz mocked Harris’ decision to visit Texas rather than spend more time in battleground states.
“That is the entirety of the Democrat Party,” Cruz said. “They are about abortion, because they can’t talk about anything else.”
