Harris pins abortion health care crisis on Trump
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about reproductive rights at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 20. Photo: Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris blamed former President Trump for making abortion a health care crisis in the U.S., saying Friday that Americans across the political spectrum support reproductive rights.
Why it matters: Abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, with abortion rights scoring large victories at the ballot in red states like Ohio and Kansas. Harris, the Biden administration's point person on the issue, has made it a defining topic of her campaign.
- "Since Roe was overturned, every time reproductive freedom has been on the ballot, the people of America have voted for freedom," Harris said at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia.
- "This is not a partisan issue," she added.
Zoom in: Harris said that when Trump talks about favoring exceptions to save a woman's life, "We're saying that we're going to create public policy that says that a doctor, a health care provider, will only kick in to give the care that somebody needs if they're about to die?"
- She pointed to the case of Amber Thurman who died after being denied immediate care due to Georgia's abortion ban.
- Harris, who heard from Thurman's family members at a campaign event with Oprah Winfrey a day earlier, said the 28-year-old's mother told her "the word preventable is over and over again in her head when she learned about how her child died."
What she's saying: "This is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of this crisis," Harris said Thursday while speaking about abortion care.
- In response to Trump taking credit for Roe v. Wade being overturned, Harris alleged, "He is proud that women are dying, proud that doctors and nurses could be thrown in prison for administering care, proud that young women should have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers."
- "How dare he?" she added.
- Trump has bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, but he's also tried to take the position that abortion should be left to states — a view women largely oppose.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement Friday that Trump "has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, which Georgia's law provides."
- She added: "With those exceptions in place, it's unclear why doctors did not swiftly act to protect the lives of mothers."
- Trump will not sign a federal abortion ban if he's reelected, Leavitt noted.
Go deeper:
- Democrats blame abortion bans for Georgia woman's death
- Trump, Harris virtually tied in poll of Georgia voters
- Abortion fights spark major spending in battleground states
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the Trump campaign.
