U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris squarely laid the blame on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the recent loss of abortion rights in Arizona. This assertion came shortly after a court upheld a 160-year-old ban on the procedure in the state.
Arizona's conservative Supreme Court decision sent ripples through one of the most fiercely contested states in the 2024 election, potentially tipping the scales in the presidential race and deciding the balance of power in the Senate.
"Let's be clear about who's responsible: former President Donald Trump is behind this," Harris declared in front of an audience that included reproductive health patients and providers in Tucson, reported Reuters. "A potential second term for Trump would only worsen the situation... If Donald Trump has his way, he'll enact a nationwide abortion ban."
She further added, "Here in Arizona they have turned back the clock to the 1800s to take away a woman's most fundamental right – the right to make decisions about her own body," pointing out that women in the state now "live under one of the most extreme abortion bans in our nation".
Trump earlier held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort with House Speaker Mike Johnson. During the conference, the former president proudly claimed to have "broken Roe v. Wade" and emphasized that state-led abortion bans are functioning as intended.
Harris made history last month by visiting a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, becoming the first sitting vice president or president to visit an abortion provider.
The Biden campaign has broadcasted an advertisement in Arizona featuring a Texas woman sharing her emotional account of nearly losing her life after being refused an abortion following a miscarriage. Against a backdrop of silence, the words "Donald Trump did this" appear on the screen, emphasizing her anguish.
In the wake of Tuesday's ruling, the Biden campaign is aiming to energize support in crucial battleground Arizona, initiating a substantial ad buy focused on the issue. According to CNN, their messaging emphasizes that Republicans are "out of touch" with public sentiment on the matter.
In the 2020 election, Biden secured victory over Trump in Arizona by a margin of fewer than 11,000 votes out of 3.3 million ballots cast. This represented the narrowest margin of victory for the Democrat in any state.
