Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on abortion access in Tallahassee, Florida on Jan. 22, 2023. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Florida Phoenix)
Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Iowa’s abortion ban going into effect in a video released Monday, calling for voters to support her as the presidential candidate in 2024 to preserve abortion access.
Iowa’s six-week abortion ban began enforcement at 8 a.m. Monday as a district judge lifted the injunction blocking the law. The measure bans most abortions — with some exceptions — after cardiac activity is detectable in an embryo, something that can happen as early as six weeks of gestation. Enforcement was called for in the state Supreme Court ruling in June that set a lower legal standard for assessing abortion laws’ constitutionality.
In a video posted on YouTube, Harris linked the Iowa measure with former President Donald Trump, whom she is expected to face in the November general election.
“So today, Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban,” Harris said. “And this ban is going to take effect before many women even know they’re pregnant. And what this means is that 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban.”
Iowa is one of many states that has restricted abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, finding there was no constitutional right to an abortion. Democrats have linked the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization with Trump’s presidency, as he appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices while in office.
Harris said that in the wake of state laws restricting abortion throughout the country, “what we need to do is vote.”
“Because I’m going to tell you something: when I am President of the United States, I will sign into law the protections for reproductive freedom,” Harris said. “So let’s get this done.”
Harris is the likely Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed her earlier in July. Though Harris will not officially be nominated until the August Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the Democratic National Committee plans to hold a virtual nomination vote for its presidential candidate as soon as Aug. 1.