Kamala Harris's Personal Journey: How Colon Cancer Shaped Her Healthcare Beliefs

Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States, has been open about how her mother's battle with colon cancer has shaped her views on healthcare.

Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008. Harris spent every moment she wasn't fulfilling her duties as district attorney of San Francisco by her mother's side, helping her through the misery of chemotherapy, cooking her meals, and bringing her soft clothes to keep her comfortable and hats after she lost her hair.

Harris has said that watching her mother go through cancer treatment was a profoundly difficult experience. She said that she remembers thanking God that her mother had Medicare—the government-funded health insurance program for people ages 65 and older—when she received her diagnosis.

This experience inspired Harris to advocate against Republican-led lawsuits that attempted to get rid of some of the ACA's protections or the entire plan altogether. She was among the first senators to support the Medicare for All bill.

In an August 16 press release, Harris laid out several proposals for her first 100 days in office, which includes capping the cost of insulin at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $2,000 for everyone, not just seniors; increasing competition among pharmaceutical companies to help lower prices; and canceling $7 billion of medical debt for up to 3 million Americans, as well as removing this debt from their credit reports.

Harris's time as vice president reflects how much her mother's colon cancer experience has shaped her views on health care. More recently at the Democratic National Convention, Harris shared how her mother's legacy has turned her into the leader she is today.