Vice President Kamala Harris marked the one-year anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson by blasting North Carolina’s newly passed abortion law, which would prohibit most abortions after 12 weeks’ gestation, calling it an “extreme ban.”
Ms. Harris, speaking to supporters Saturday at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, decried red-state laws that restrict abortion access, including Senate Bill 20, which passed last month after the GOP-led state legislature overrode Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
“Next week, overruling the will of the people, North Carolina will be the latest state with an extreme ban, in spite of the best efforts of Gov. Roy Cooper,” Ms. Harris told the crowd, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The North Carolina measure, which takes effect July 1, lowers the state’s gestational limit on most abortions from 20 to 12 weeks, which is when most Americans draw the line on elective procedures.
Polls show a majority of U.S. adults support abortion access through the first trimester, or about 13 weeks, but oppose most abortions performed after the first trimester.
Ms. Harris characterized the year since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision as a time of “chaos.”
“And so over the past 365 days, women have suffered the consequences of these laws that by design and effect, have created chaos, confusion, and a lot of them have denied women around the country, care, even when their life and health were at risk,” she said.
In the past year, 24 states have ushered in laws restricting abortion, while 15 states have moved to expand abortion access, creating a stark divide on the highly charged issue between the red and blue states.
Ms. Harris warned that “extremists” want to ban abortion nationwide, a theme sounded by Democrats ahead of the 2024 election.
“This fight is not only about people of one particular state. These extremists are planning to take their agenda to the national level,” she said.
Kamala Harris, laughing, says after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she called her husband because “there were a collection of words that were coming to mind that would not have been proper for me to speak with some other people.” pic.twitter.com/eVWrqDQ73f
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 24, 2023
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, proposed legislation last year limiting most abortions to 15 weeks’ gestation with exceptions for rape, incest and the life and physical health of the mother, a bill backed by major pro-life groups including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Ms. Harris called on Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing abortion access.
“We know this fight will not truly be done until we secure this right for every American, which may ultimately mean the United States Congress must put back in place what the Supreme Court took away,” she said.
The North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement defending the state’s law.
“Vice President Harris should know North Carolinians reject the extreme policies of this administration,” the party said in a statement on ABC11. “In response to the end of Roe v Wade, North Carolina Republicans have passed reasonable restrictions on abortion well within the mainstream of public opinion on this critical issue.”
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on June 16 seeking to clarify several provisions in the newly passed North Carolina law, including whether abortion pills may be obtained to end pregnancies at 10 or 12 weeks’ gestation.
The crowd greeted Ms. Harris with chants of “four more years,” causing her to erupt in laughter. She and President Biden are seeking a second term in the 2024 election.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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