Vice President Kamala Harris mocked Donald Trump for proclaiming himself a “protector” of women, noting that many victims of rape and incest no longer have abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
At a Sept. 23 rally, Trump said that if he is elected president, women will no longer have to worry about issues like abortion and added, “You will be protected, and I will be your protector.”
Harris appeared on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Sunday and was asked about Trump’s comments by host Alexandra Cooper.
Cooper: At a rally in Pennsylvania, former President Trump recently told women, “You will be protected, and I will be your protector.” What do you make of that?
Harris: So he who, when he was president, hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did just as he intended, and there are now 20 states with Trump abortion bans, including bans that make no exception for rape or incest, which we just discussed, which means that you're telling a survivor of a crime, of a violation to their body, they don't have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body next? Which is immoral. So, this is the same guy that is now saying that?
This is the same guy, who said that women should be “punished” for having abortions? This is the same guy who uses the kind of language he does to describe women?
So, yeah, there you go.
The conservative majority of the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to an abortion in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022. Trump appointed three of the six justices who made the decision, and in his September debate with Harris praised the “genius” of the decision.
The decision enabled states with Republican legislatures to trigger laws with varying levels of abortion bans.
Trump has frequently made the false claim that “everyone” wanted Roe overturned and for states to have these new powers to limit abortions. University of California law professor Mary Ziegler, who is also an expert on abortion law and history, told CNN in a fact check of Trump’s statement, “This is a claim that is unusually brazen in how false it is.”
In fact, not even Trump’s wife agrees with him. Melania Trump has claimed to be pro-choice and in a recent interview when asked about her husband’s position said, “He has different beliefs, and he will do what he believes if he is elected.”
After widespread criticism of Republican efforts to pass federal abortion bans, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, has tried to promote the notion that Republicans want a “minimum national standard” on abortion, not a ban. But those “standards” would still amount to a ban on the medical procedure.
As the AP reported “Republicans have been accused of attempting to recast federal abortion restrictions as ‘minimum national standards’ in order to distort their own stances on the issue amid the political unpopularity of the GOP’s position on abortion.”
Fourteen states now have abortion bans in place without exceptions for rape and incest.
Kentucky is one of those states. Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky resident, was raped by her stepfather and became pregnant, later miscarrying. She has since become an advocate against abortion bans and spoke about the issue at the Democratic National Convention in August.
“I can’t imagine not having a choice, but today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans,” Duvall said.
She has also appeared in campaign advertising on the behalf of the Harris campaign.
Polling has shown widespread support among the public in favor of abortion access, particularly for victims of rape and incest. In May 2024 polling by Pew Research Center, 63% of respondents across party lines supported abortion in all or most cases. Broken down by party, the idea had strong support, with 96% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.
Harris has called for a federal law that would restore the right to an abortion as originally laid out in Roe and said she supported ending the Senate filibuster if it could assure the passage of such a law.
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