Vice President Kamala Harris led a conversation about protecting abortion rights after a leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court that could overturn Roe v. Wade.
“There is nothing hypothetical about this moment,” Harris said at a fundraiser in Washington on Tuesday night for Emily’s List, a group that focuses on electing Democratic women who support abortion rights, LA Times reported. “Women in almost half the country could see their access to abortion severely limited. In 13 of those states, women would lose access to abortion immediately and outright.”
This was the vice president’s first appearance after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, according to Daily Mail. She had been scheduled to speak at this gala before the leak of the court’s draft ruling, Politico reports. A White House official said the speech went through multiple revisions on Tuesday.
Harris delivered a bold nine-minute speech. She also questioned the Republicans who praised the potential ruling.
“Some Republican leaders are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women,” said Harris according to Politico. “How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?”
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The vice president also warned that this potential ruling could expand to privacy rights.
“At its core, Roe recognizes the fundamental right to privacy,” she said according to Politico. “Think about that for a minute. When the right to privacy is attacked, anyone in our country may face a future where the government can interfere in their personal decisions. Not just women. Anyone.”
Harris has previously received awards from abortion rights groups.
“She’s been a champion of the pro-choice movement for a long time, so you will see her leaning in on the issue,” said Karen Finney, a Harris ally who serves on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice America according to LA Times. “She is a very important messenger to talk about the impact that this is going to have on women — from a health perspective, from the perspective of our bodily autonomy, from the perspective of rights, as a former attorney general.”
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