On the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court removing federal abortion protection, Vice President Kamala Harris underscored the role abortion will play at the ballot in November at a campaign event in Phoenix.
Harris told a crowd of hundreds Monday that access to IVF and contraception, and possibly same-sex marriage, are now at risk because of former President Donald Trump. She attacked Trump for appointing justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, a right that’d been in place for 50 years.
“Donald Trump says he is proudly responsible for what he’s done,” Harris said. “Proudly responsible that our daughter has fewer rights than my mother-in-law? Proudly responsible doctors can be imprisoned?”
Harris said reelecting President Joe Biden will lead to protections for abortion access.
Biden has vowed to sign legislation codifying Roe v. Wade. Harris said that, from what she’s heard on the campaign trail, protecting access to abortion at the federal level shouldn’t be controversial.
“I think most Americans in my travels agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with their body,” Harris said. “We trust women to know what is in their own best interest.”
Harris’s visit to Arizona follows one from first lady Jill Biden and Biden himself over the past few months.
Several state lawmakers attended Monday’s event including Reps. Patty Contreras (D-Phoenix), Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix), Nancy Gutierrez (D-Tucson) and Oscar de los Santos (D-Laveen). Higher-level Democrats like Gov. Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes were absent.
Harris singled out Congressman Ruben Gallego, whose race for one of Arizona’s U.S. Senate seats could determine control of the chamber in 2025 — and Democrats ability to pass legislation codifying Roe.
The vice president also criticized comments Trump made earlier this month at his own campaign rally in Phoenix. Trump attacked Biden for issues at the southern border, but Harris accused Trump of rallying Republicans to stop a bipartisan border deal — a plan Harris said would have achieved some border protections Trump now advocates for.
“He would prefer to run on a problem rather than fix a problem,” Harris said.
