Former First Lady Michelle Obama has an urgent message for men on the first stop of her 2024 campaign trail, arguing that the election could have life-or-death consequences for the women they love.

“I implore all of you from the core of my being to take our lives seriously,” he said at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The former First Lady praised Harris’ credentials and encouraged voters’ engagement and participation in her speech. But she spent an emotional time arguing Saturday that former President Donald Trump, who was campaigning in Michigan and Pennsylvania if he is re-elected, would have dire consequences for the future of women’s health.

“Let me try to paint a picture for the men who love us of what it would feel like if America, the richest country in the world, canceled basic care for women and how that would affect every single woman in your life,” Obama said.

Obama argued that a woman affected by the policies “could be in legal jeopardy if she needed medication from out of state or abroad or had to travel across state lines because the local clinic was closed.”

“Your daughter may be the person who is too scared to call the doctor if she bleeds during an unexpected pregnancy. Your niece may be the person who miscarries in the bathtub after the hospital turns her away,” she continued.

“And it won’t just affect women; it will affect you and your sons too,” he said, suggesting that both men and women would suffer the “devastating consequences of teenage pregnancy.”

Obama went beyond abortion, arguing that women’s increasingly limited access to health care could also have serious consequences for abortion care, cancer screenings and access to medical professionals.

“Your partner or mother may be the ones at higher risk of dying from undiagnosed cervical cancer because they don’t have access to regular gynecological care,” he said.

He later added: “And in the worst-case scenario, there is the tragic but very real possibility that you will be the one holding flowers at the funeral.” “You may be the one raising your children alone.”

Her speech comes as polls show a wide gender gap in Americans’ support for Harris and Trump. One NBC News poll It found that as of October, women supported Harris by a 14-point margin, while men supported Trump by a 16-point margin. Polls from several major media outlets also showed Harris and Trump locked in an extremely tight race.

Obama also addressed voters who are considering not voting in protest or voting for Trump or a third-party candidate, saying, “We as women will be collateral damage to your anger.”

“As men, are you ready to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and say you support this attack on our security?” he asked.

Speaking after Obama, Harris echoed similar sentiments, arguing that men saw the women they loved “put at risk because their rights were taken away.” Before speaking in Michigan on Saturday, Harris held an event in Texas on Friday, using the red-state setting to rally her supporters against the “health crisis” caused by Trump.

“American men don’t want this. Women have died because of these bans,” Harris said in Michigan on Saturday. “How can anyone say they want that? You’ve heard me say this: I believe Donald Trump is a frivolous man, but the consequences of him becoming president again are extremely serious, extremely serious.”

When reached for comment, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump “has long been consistent in supporting states’ rights to decide on abortion.” He emphasized that he would not sign a federal ban on abortion and said Trump “also supports universal access to birth control.” and IVF”

Trump’s stance on reproductive rights evolved over the years. Although he at one point supported abortion rights, he now supports Roe v. after appointing three majority-voting justices to the Supreme Court. Wade deserves credit for his role in getting his case dismissed. Trump said he supports states’ rights to decide the legality of abortion procedures within their own borders. He said he wouldn’t sign the federal ban.

While Obama highlighted potential dangers to women, Trump invoked dark crime imagery at Saturday rallies, criticized Beyoncé’s campaign with Harris and touted her foreign policy experience while claiming Harris “wants” war.

“He would love a draft. All he wanted was war. The reason I didn’t get along with him was because he wanted to invade every damn country he looked at,” Trump said without evidence in Novi, Michigan.

Trump also held a rally in State College, Pennsylvania, and his speeches touched on typical themes. The former president argued that “we are very close to World War III,” portraying immigrants as coming from “jails and prisons, mental institutions and asylums” and disparaging Harris as “a deeply incompetent person.”

Meanwhile, Obama in Michigan He claimed that some people “hold Kamala to a higher standard than her opponent.”

“We expect him to be intelligent and articulate, to have clear policies, to never show too much anger, to prove over and over again that he belongs,” he said. “But we expect nothing from Trump. No understanding of politics, no ability to form a coherent argument, no integrity, no decency, no morality.”

And he hinted that Harris could suffer electorally if Americans aren’t “ready for this moment.”

“It is clear to me that the question is not whether Kamala is ready for this moment, because she has shown that she is ready in every way,” he said. “The real question is: Are we ready for this moment as a country?”

More than 7,000 people attended the rally, according to a Harris campaign official. Many in the room stood throughout Obama’s 40-minute speech, frequently cheering and emphasizing Obama’s comments.