ICYMI: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Joined Vice President Kamala Harris on the Fight for Freedoms Tour During Trip to Bay Area

On Monday, January 29, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra joined Vice President Kamala Harris’s “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in San Jose, California. During the tour, Secretary Becerra delivered remarks on the work that HHS is doing to protect and expand access to reproductive health care. 

“We're protecting your rights to contraceptive care. We’re protecting your right to privacy as a patient or as a provider. We’re protecting your right to emergency medical care to save your life or stabilize your health,” Secretary Becerra told the crowd. 

Secretary Becerra’s remarks follow a series of new actions HHS announced last week to protect and expand access to contraception in support of President Biden’s Executive Order to strengthen access to affordable, high-quality contraception and family planning services. 

Secretary Becerra delivers remarks at Vice President Harris’s “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour. 

Following the tour event, Secretary Becerra visited University of California, San Francisco's (UCSF) campus for a conversation with OB-GYN providers and medical students on reproductive health care access. During the conversation, the Secretary heard directly from providers about the increase of out-of-state patients seeking care in California. "Patients who are pregnant are coming to San Francisco from far away because they can't get care within their states...from places like Tennessee, even Florida, we've seen patients from Georgia," said Dr. Eleanor Drey, a UCSF Professor and Medical Director of San Francisco General's Abortion Clinic.

On Tuesday, January 30, Secretary Becerra participated in an event with Covered California in San Francisco to mark the record-breaking number of Americans – 21.3 million – who enrolled in coverage through marketplaces during the 2024 Open Enrollment Period. During the event, Secretary Becerra talked about the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued its commitment to making health insurance available and affordable to everyone, and how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) have helped the Administration keep that commitment by making Marketplace coverage more affordable. Thanks to the IRA and ARP, four in five HealthCare.gov customers were able to find health care coverage for $10 or less per month for plan year 2024 after subsidies.

Secretary Becerra speaks to health care advocates at an event marking the record-breaking 21.3 million new enrollees receiving coverage through the Affordable Care Act. 

Read and watch more about Secretary Becerra’s events in California: 

KTVU (FOX) - Oakland, CA: UCSF doctors share abortion care stories and research with Sec. Becerra

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra arrived at UCSF on a fact-finding mission Monday, meeting with OBGYN doctors and professors to discuss front-line stories of how abortion care has changed since the Supreme Court's decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade opened to door for some states to adopt abortion restrictions. 

"We continue to collect the data where we can put out information that helps inform the policy decisions that Congress is making, the states are making," Becerra said. 

KGO-SF (ABC) - San Francisco, CA

KSTS (Telemundo) - San Francisco, CA 

Univision: Kamala Harris visitó el Área de la Bahía para defender los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres

KRON-SF (MyTV) - San Francisco, CA:

KCBS-AM (Radio) - San Francisco, CA:

Secretary Xavier Becerra: The Dobbs decision has now created a situation where the quality of your health care care depends on your zip code. If you're a woman. 

KCBS’s Kris Ankarlo: Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says before the Dobbs decision, his Department was working to close healthcare gaps. 

Secretary Xavier Becerra: It's made our job more difficult. There are more people now who have bigger gaps that they have to try to avoid in order to get to care that they need. depends on your zip code. If you're a woman.