WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit a Minnesota clinic March 14 that performs abortions and provides reproductive care as one of the stops on her nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.

The visit marks the first time a U.S. vice president has been to a reproductive clinic, Harris’ office told reporters.

The clinic, reported to be a Planned Parenthood facility in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, was not specifically identified by the White House prior to the visit for security reasons.

In her visit, she was going to tour the facility and speak with the staff about reproductive rights. She planned to highlight the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and hear from the clinic officials about how Minnesota has been affected by abortion bans in nearby states.

She also planned to emphasize what the Biden administration has done to promote abortion initiatives.

This visit is on the heels of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address March 7 where he said that if voters “send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.”

“I am distressed to learn that the vice president is visiting an abortion clinic when there are so many agencies and organizations who are at the service of life that she could visit. She could learn about all they do to welcome every child, and how they support and accompany the mothers and fathers, especially those in need,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

“Vice President Harris is here to celebrate that Minnesota is one of the most permissive places for abortion anywhere in the world. This open access to abortion without protections undermines the goal of fostering an inclusive society and is out of touch with the views of most Minnesotans on the issue,” said Maggee Hangge, policy associate at Minnesota Catholic Conference.

“Irrespective of the laws today, Catholics in Minnesota are committed to walking with moms in need and identifying common ground policy solutions that foster prenatal justice, such as the child tax credit, which passed in 2023,” Hangge added.

Last year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed the state’s Protect Reproductive Options Act into law, guaranteeing Minnesotans the right to an abortion and other reproductive health care options.

The state’s Catholic bishops opposed this legislation. In a letter to state lawmakers, they said: “We cannot allow state-sanctioned violence against a whole class of human beings.

“At the very minimum, we should all be able to agree that post-viability abortions, except to save the life of the mother, should not be allowed; that taxpayers not be required to fund any more abortions than those already required by the courts; and that medical professionals should not be punished for refusing to participate in abortion.”

The state’s bishops also stressed that “no individual has unlimited autonomy over the making and taking of life. To assert such unlimited autonomy is to usurp a prerogative that belongs to God alone. Authorizing a general license to make and take life at our whim will unleash a host of social and spiritual consequences with which we as a community will have to reckon.”