“Freedom” has been a running theme here at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. For years, Republicans have styled themselves as the party of freedom. But Democrats this week are reclaiming the word, particularly around the issues of abortion and gun safety. During his remarks on opening night at the United Center, Congressman Jamie Raskin called this year’s DNC the “democracy convention” and the “freedom convention.” Senator Raphael Warnock warned in a rousing address that “antidemocratic forces are at work right now in Georgia and all across our country.” And Kamala Harris, who came out to “Freedom” by Beyoncé, vowed to “fight for the ideals we hold dear” in a surprise appearance on the convention stage.

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On Tuesday at a gathering hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety and Planned Parenthood, two of the most prominent groups on the frontlines of gun safety and reproductive rights, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer told the roomful of advocates to use the language of abortion and gun safety, noting that women have been “at the forefront” of each of those movements. “Be bold,” she said. Don’t treat either issue “as a third rail that no one wants to talk about,” the governor, a rising Democratic star, continued. “We’ve got to lean in and talk about it.”

Abortion rights have long been framed as an issue of personal freedom—one that has proved potent at the ballot box since Supreme Court conservatives struck down Roe in 2022. But gun control, another animating issue of the Democratic coalition, has been cast by the right in recent decades as a government attack on gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. During the panel discussion—where the two groups debuted a joint ad in support of Harris—Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, a volunteer network that is part of Everytown, cast the issues as two sides of the same coin. “We know that these two issues come down to our freedoms,” Ferrell-Zabala said. “Our freedom to make our own decisions about our bodies, and our freedom to live safe from gun violence.” Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson agreed, “We are in a radical realignment around freedom.” McGill Johnson lambasted “freedom deniers” in the GOP and commended advocates on the “frontlines of fighting fascism.” “People care about their basic freedoms,” she said.

On Monday night, President Joe Biden asked an electrified United Center crowd: “Are you ready to vote for freedom?” The support in the arena was palpable. “Are you ready to vote for democracy and America?” He continued. “Let me ask you: Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz”—who has made “mind your own damn business” a rallying cry—“president and vice president of the United States?”

Demanding the right to live without fear and have autonomy over one’s reproductive health has been an energizing message for Democrats, as they emphasize party unity here in Chicago. “We know what our assignment is,” McGill Johnson said Tuesday morning. “We have to return freedom champions to the White House, and we need to give this White House a governing majority.”