Vice President Harris on Monday That the same “source” that threatens abortion rights also opposes voting rights and LGBTQ rights is “probably by design, not by accident.”
Harris spoke out at a meeting with civil rights and abortion rights activists. Attendees included Rev. Al Sharpton, Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood and Nancy Northup, CEO of Center for Reproductive Rights.
“The decision of the Supreme Court to take away our constitutional rights in the Dobbs case caused a medical crisis in America as we decided to take away our constitutional rights from the American people, American women. We know for sure,” Harris said, referring to a June Supreme Court ruling voiding federal abortion protection.
“We also believe that attacks on women’s health rights, voting rights and LGBTQ rights from the same sources are probably intentional rather than accidental. stands here in full acknowledgment of what happened in this country,” added Harris.
Harris has played a role in opposing threats to abortion rights within the Biden administration since the Supreme Court handed down Roe v. Wade in June.
Her allegation that the Supreme Court caused “America’s medical crisis” comes just days after she made sharper remarks about America’s Supreme Court.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” last week, Harris called the Supreme Court an “activist court,” adding that the court’s decision to overturn Roe raised “great concerns about the integrity of the court as a whole.”
Reproductive Rights leaders who met on Monday echoed Harris’ sentiments.
“Tens of millions of women. Transgender men and nonbinary people do not have access to the care they need in their communities. And those most affected are those who already face barriers to care: Blacks, Latinos, Indigenous communities, rural communities, immigrant communities.” Planned Parenthood’s McGill Johnson said at the conference:
Melanie Campbell, CEO of the National Coalition for Black Citizens Participation, noted that courts have historically been places where black women can achieve justice when the law fails.
“Unfortunately, our country is in a perilous time when so many courts have been turned into tools for partisan interests,” Campbell said. “Today, we face this moment when the Supreme Court of this country is stripping us of our constitutional rights and liberties.”
