Vice President Harris on Thursday denounced the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are human beings as hypocritical and placed the blame on former President Trump.
“Think about it: Individuals and couples who want to start a family are currently being deprived of access to things that would help them start a family,” she said. “So proponents are saying, on the one hand, individuals do not have the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, and on the other hand, individuals do not have the right to start a family.”
Although the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision did not ban in vitro fertilization (IVF), experts say it could prevent doctors from performing IVF, which carries the risk of destroying embryos. warns. Three clinics in the state have so far suspended treatment.
More broadly, the ruling is poised to open a new front in the fight over reproductive rights.
“While the Alabama court’s decision is shocking, it comes after the Dobbs decision and is not surprising,” Harris told reporters late Thursday. “What we have seen in Alabama is currently under attack, with access to reproductive health care through in vitro fertilization being taken away from countless individuals and families.”
He said the “irony” of the decision is that while supporters do not have the “right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy”, “if it is her choice and her decision, then she also has the right to become pregnant”. “No,” he added. her dream. ”
Harris criticized Trump, the Republican front-runner, for his involvement in the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which she said led to decisions like the one in Alabama.
“Then you have to ask, well, how did it happen? And I guess you ask, who’s to blame? And I’ll answer that question,” she said. “If you look at the fact that the former president of the United States clearly intended to hand-pick three Supreme Court justices to overturn the protections of Roe v. Wade, and he did that, he did that. is what got us to where we are today.”
She went on to slam the “hypocrisy” of reproductive rights bans after Roe.
“Hypocrisy is [abounds] “There will be a lot of debate about this issue, especially considering that abortion is banned in the top 10 states for maternal mortality rates,” she said. ”, he added, challenging the state.
Harris spoke at a Michigan roundtable with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other Michigan lawmakers. Michigan’s Democratic primary is Tuesday.
The roundtable was part of the “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour convened by Harris, who has been one of the White House’s leading voices on reproductive rights.
President Biden also condemned the ruling earlier Thursday, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable.”
“And now, an Alabama court is jeopardizing access to fertility treatment for some families desperately trying to conceive,” he said.
Biden and Harris’ re-election campaign tied the Alabama decision to Trump’s Supreme Court nomination, adding that “so-called pro-life Republicans are preventing loving couples from starting families.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
