PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Award-winning television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes joined Gov. Josh Shapiro on Saturday at a rally for the Harris-Walz campaign. The two put a spotlight on reproductive rights during the event.
Supporters of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and local officials packed the UFCW Local 1776 headquarters, sporting buttons and holding signs, waiting to see Shapiro and Rhimes. Several local leaders took the stage beforehand, including state Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, who spoke about her own reproductive journey, which included two miscarriages before she gave birth to her daughter.
“Being able to get reproductive health care like the kind I needed should not be up for debate — and neither should women and people that are childbearing having control over their bodies and their own futures,” Cappelletti said.
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who’s also running for re-election in the state’s 4th District, said she is fighting for her granddaughter’s rights.
”It's important that we forever defend our right to make decisions over our own bodies and fight to restore those rights in the parts of the country where they've been ripped away,” Dean said.
Dean then introduced Rhimes, who has written storylines for television shows about women’s reproductive choices.
“You know, I make stories up for a living. And for ‘Grey's Anatomy,’ my job was to always come up with the worst medical scenario and find a way to solve it,” Rhimes said. “I can't make up these scenarios, and there's no solution to them right now.”
Rhimes spoke about her beliefs on the issue.
“We want women to be able to make their own decisions about their body,” Rhimes said. “Because, as I tell my friends, I want to talk to my doctor about my uterus, not some politician.”
The rally capped a busy Saturday for Rhimes, who had stumped for Harris-Walz at two earlier events in West Philadelphia.
She stood with Shapiro as he came to the stage and told the crowd what he believes is Pennsylvania’s role in restoring reproductive freedom, including seeing women come from other states.
“You go out to the western side of our state, where Shonda is going to be tomorrow — we have seen an 800% increase in the number of women who are trying to access reproductive health care in our two reproductive health care centers in Pittsburgh,” Shapiro said.
“At the end of the day, the issue of our fundamental freedoms, the issue of a woman's right to choose or just simply access a full range of health care options — Kamala Harris' name may be on the ballot, but it's your rights and your freedoms that are on the line.”
After the rally, Shapiro followed up with his own words about Pennsylvania’s role in protecting women’s health.
“We'll continue to welcome women from all across the country and of course, women here in Pennsylvania, if Donald Trump is elected and passes a nationwide abortion ban, it's going to make it much, much harder for me as your governor to be able to protect those fundamental rights.”