Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday decried what she says would be a regression of women’s rights in the U.S. should the Supreme Court reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in a virtual meeting with abortion providers.
Ms. Harris held a virtual discussion with a group of providers who work in states with tough abortion restrictions in a show of support from the administration.
“The strength of our country has always been that we fight to move forward, that we believe in the expansion of rights, not the restriction of rights,” she said. “So this, when and if it happens, will be an extreme step backward. And it represents a threat not just to women, but to all Americans.”
The White House is concerned about the forthcoming opinion, which was drafted by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and was leaked to the press, sparking a firestorm.
The opinion as drafted would leave abortion restrictions up to the states. The draft drew sufficient support from the court’s conservative majority, prompting Democratic fears of draconian restrictions in some states.
“The right to privacy that forms the basis of Roe is the same right to privacy that protects the right to use contraception and the right to marry the person you love, including a person of the same sex,” Ms. Harris said Thursday. “Overturning Roe opens the door to restricting those rights. It would be a direct assault on the fundamental right to self-determination to live and love without interference from the government.”
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Participants in the Harris event included Dr. Rebecca Taub, an OB/GYN who works in California, Oklahoma, and Kansas; Dr. Bhavik Kumar, an OB/GYN for Planned Parenthood who practices in Texas; Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, Missouri; and Helen Weems, a registered nurse and founding director of All Families Healthcare in Montana.
Senate Democrats recently tried to enshrine abortion rights in federal law, but Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, blocked the bill from advancing.
Ms. Harris said the Supreme Court’s decision was “at its core, about the future of the nation.”
“This is about the future,” she said.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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