Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday on CNN’s “The Lead” that the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has trigger laws in 13 states banning abortion without exceptions, including cases of rape or incest, was “absolutely unthinkable.”
Anchor Dana Bash said, “Justice Thomas did write a concurring opinion saying the court should reconsider other cases of precedent that protect same-sex marriage, contraception, intimacy, and more. Do you think that the Supreme Court is on a path to reverse those as well?”
Harris said, “I definitely believe this is not over. I do. I think he just said the quiet part out loud. And I think that is why we all must really understand the significance of what just happened. This is profound. And the way that this decision has come down has been so driven, I think, by the politics of the issue versus what should be the values that we place on freedom and liberty in our country. Right? The right to privacy. Let’s think of this in the context of the laws that are being passed in states. Dana, in 13 states by my count, they will not allow a woman to have access to reproductive health and to an abortion if she is the victim of rape or incest.”
She added, “So let me tell you something, as a former prosecutor who specialized in crimes of violence against women and girls, in particular, child sexual assault and rape, the idea that after a woman has endured such violence to her body that she would not have the freedom and authority to decide whether she wanted to continue with a pregnancy that is a result of an act of violence is absolutely unthinkable.”
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