Vice President Harris said in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday that decisions about gender-affirming care should be left up to doctors and patients.
When asked by NBC's Harry Jackson if he believed gender-affirming care was available, the vice president said, “We should follow the law.”
Harris pointed out that former President Donald Trump's campaign is spending money on ads that say she supports taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery.
“They're going to let this define you,” Jackson said, giving the vice president a chance to respond.
“People believe that even on this issue of federal law, as required by law, it's a decision that a doctor makes regarding what is medically necessary. I would not put myself in the position of a doctor. '' Harris said.
The vice president claimed that President Trump's ads are aimed at distracting Americans from his health care plans, including the Republican Party's long-standing intention to repeal so-called Obamacare.
“Donald Trump also uses the two incidents to distract from the fact that his policies and plans also seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides health care to tens of millions of people. “Let's also understand that we're spending tens of millions of dollars in advertising on people in our country,” she said. “Let's not get distracted by the problem.”
Jackson asked Harris for a message to LGBTQ Americans, calling for “full support” for the transgender community.
“I believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect, and that no one should be vilified or bullied for who they are, and that has been true throughout my career. “And that hasn't changed,” she said.
Harris was also pressed on the issue of gender-affirming care in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier last week, during which Fox aired a Trump campaign ad that claimed Harris supported taxpayer-funded surgeries. It flowed.
“I'm going to follow the law, and it's the law that Donald Trump actually followed,” she said at the time.New York Times coveragethat people in federal prisons received gender-affirming care under the Trump administration;
“Frankly, for someone who lives in a glass house, I think that Trump campaign ad is like throwing a rock,” she added. “We must take responsibility for what happened within the administration.”
