Harris claims US in ‘health care crisis,’ pushes harder for codifying abortion access

Vice President Harris took to the stage in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, to double down on her push to codify abortion access in federal law.

The conservative court majority that overturned Roe created a “health care crisis in America,” she said. “How dare they.”

Harris and President Biden received early endorsements by a slate of women’s rights organizations and abortion access nonprofits on Friday, and Harris signaled that abortion rights will be an important part of her reelection bid in 2024.

“Extremist so-called leaders have enacted laws that ban abortion, some without exceptions for survivors of the crimes of rape and incest,” she said in a video message, posted Saturday.

“They want to pass a national abortion ban,” Harris added. “We will not allow them to destroy the basic rights and principles upon which our nation was founded.”

Political experts have cited the abortion rights issue as one reason Democrats beat expectations in the 2022 midterm elections. Harris, the first female vice president, has since taken up reproductive and women’s rights as one of her main issues.

“We cannot in our nation allow people to silently suffer without telling their stories in a way that hopefully understands the importance of uplifting their voices, in support and in love and with a sense of empathy and agreement that they shouldn’t have to have those kinds of experiences,” Harris said Saturday.

The vice president also vowed that she and Biden would “continue to do our part,” including pushing for laws that codify the protections Roe offered.

She also shared a video from the White House with the caption: “The Biden-Harris Administration will keep fighting to ensure women can make decisions about their own health, lives, families, and futures.”

Since the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was handed down last year — which ended the constitutional right to abortion provided by Roe — 24 states, including North Carolina, have passed or enforced laws restricting access to abortions. Those laws are facing legal challenges in 9 states.

An NBC News poll released Thursday found that 61 percent of Americans do not approve the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. That includes about a third of Republicans and 80 percent of women.

Harris said the administration’s goal is to pass a bill codifying access to abortion procedures in federal law, legalizing it despite the court’s decision last year.

“Democrats are fighting for reproductive rights and legislation that restores the protections of Roe v. Wade.” Harris tweeted on Saturday. “And the majority of Americans are with us.”

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