WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is using the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade case to argue that Donald Trump is “guilty” of curtailing women’s freedoms and sparking a nationwide health crisis.
Harris said Monday that Trump “intended” that his three Supreme Court nominees would overturn Roe. “It was premeditated,” she said. “Trump has not denied his actions, let alone shown remorse.”
Referring to her past as a prosecutor in California, the Vice President added: “In the case of stealing the reproductive freedom of the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty.”
As President Joe Biden prepares for this week’s presidential debate with presumptive Republican nominee Trump at Camp David, the vice president is at the center of events marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that Democrats hope will give them decisive momentum in the election. Later Monday, she traveled to Arizona to attend a second event on reproductive rights.
The campaign last week included First Lady Jill Biden and a number of other women who felt motivated to participate in the 2024 abortion effort after suffering – or nearly dying – under restrictive abortion laws that were applied in some cases even though they never intended to end their pregnancy.
The removal of federal protections has left the issue largely in the hands of state legislatures, where laws vary widely. At least 25 million women now live in states with abortion restrictions and face increasingly dire consequences. And it’s also changing how and where doctors practice.
Trump has repeatedly campaigned on repealing the federal right to abortion. He nominated three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, but has since refused to support a national abortion ban.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe abortion should be legal in at least some cases, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted last summer. The poll also found that 6 in 10 U.S. adults thought Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion across the country.
Support for legal abortion was particularly high in situations where the pregnancy seriously threatened the health of the pregnant woman. In the survey, more than 8 in 10 Americans said abortion should be legal in their state under these circumstances. Support for legal abortion in early pregnancy was also high: About three-quarters said it should be legal in their state at this time.
Other Democratic candidates are also focusing their campaigns on the issue of reproductive rights and are convinced that this will motivate voters in the critical swing states.
Jessica Mackler, president of Emily’s List, a group that supports Democratic women, on Monday pointed to the victory in the 2023 election of Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court who made abortion rights a focus of her campaign, as an example of how the issue can be used to win.
“I know if we do this work, we can win,” Mackler said at an event with Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is running for re-election.
“This is not a brand problem for Republicans. It’s an agenda problem. We can’t let them get away with this,” she said.
Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician-gynecologist who is running for a vacant seat in Congress from Wisconsin, said Monday it was a question of freedom.
“People are worried about the cost of gas and groceries,” Lyerly said in a conference call with reporters. “They talk about the border, but what they’re fundamentally worried about is the ability to make their own personal decisions about their health care. That’s a freedom issue. For them, it’s not a political issue. It’s an existential one.”
Lyerly performed abortions throughout Wisconsin, but temporarily moved her practice to Minnesota after the Supreme Court ruling. She was among those who successfully filed suit challenging the state’s abortion ban.
The White House is also outlining its policy efforts to protect access to abortion and contraception, as well as the right to travel abroad for medical care, while it awaits another Supreme Court decision, expected sometime this month, that will impact how women receive emergency medical care.
“The overturning of Roe was devastating for women across the country,” said Jennifer Klein, White House adviser for reproductive health.
Klein said the administration is already working to implement three of Biden’s executive orders aimed at protecting access to medicines where possible, preserving contraceptive and privacy rights and expanding health care, a push that will continue if the president is re-elected.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court secured access to a drug used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States last year, the court’s first abortion decision since the case that overturned Roe.
But there is another case involving a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). The law requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who comes to the emergency room. It applies to nearly all emergency rooms—any that accept Medicare funds.
The Justice Department has sued Idaho over its abortion law that allows a woman to have an abortion only if her life – not her health – is in danger. The state law raises questions about when a doctor can provide the stabilizing treatment required by federal law.
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.
