Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit Arizona this Friday, arriving just days after the state’s Supreme Court upheld a longstanding law from 1864 that effectively bans nearly all abortions.
Harris, a prominent advocate for abortion rights within the Biden administration, has been steadfast in her support for reproductive freedom since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The White House announced her upcoming trip to Tucson following the Arizona Supreme Court’s recent ruling, affirming that the visit aims to bolster her leadership in the fight for reproductive rights.
This marks Harris’s second trip to Arizona this year and her fifth visit since assuming office. Her previous stop in Phoenix highlighted the threats posed by proposed and enacted abortion bans across the nation.
The Arizona Supreme Court’s narrow 4-2 decision on Tuesday cleared the way for the enforcement of one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, rooted in a law dating back to the Civil War era, long before Arizona achieved statehood or women’s suffrage. This law imposes severe penalties, including imprisonment, for anyone involved in aiding an abortion, with minimal exceptions.
Harris, who has been on a nationwide ‘Fight for Reproductive Freedom’ tour, condemned the Arizona decision as endangering women’s lives and criticized former President Trump’s role in reshaping the Supreme Court, which culminated in the 2022 Dobbs decision that devolved abortion regulations to the states.
In response to the Arizona ruling, Harris underscored the importance of health care decisions being made between women and their doctors, not by politicians. She attributed the regression in women’s rights to Trump’s influence, likening the rollback to a time before women could vote.
The timing of the Arizona court’s decision, coinciding with Trump’s recent announcement supporting state-led approaches to abortion and limited exceptions, has reignited debate over reproductive rights. The issue has proven to be politically charged, with Democrats leveraging it effectively in midterms and special elections following the Dobbs decision.
As Republicans grapple with articulating their stance on abortion, some have faced challenges in reconciling past positions, underscoring the ongoing significance of the issue in shaping electoral outcomes and public policy debates.