On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris blamed “Trump abortion bans” for the death of a 28-year-old Georgia woman who was denied urgent care under that state’s abortion laws.
Amber Nicole Thurman died of an infection after doctors were unable to perform a routine procedure called a dilation and curettage, or D&C, to clear fetal tissue from her uterus after taking abortion pills. The procedure became illegal in 2022 after the conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the 6-3 decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
Three of the justices who made up the court majority—Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh—were nominated to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump and confirmed by Senate Republicans, who held the majority at the time.
“This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school. This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down. In more than 20 states, Trump Abortion Bans are preventing doctors from providing basic medical care,” Harris said.
“Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again. Survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens next to their bodies. And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions.”
During his Sept. 10 debate with Harris, Trump praised the court for the decision to overturn abortion rights.
“Through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices we were able to do that,” Trump said.
The court’s actions have led to bans and severe restrictions across the country, severely limiting access to reproductive health care for millions of women.
In response, many of those women have become activists pushing for the restoration of their rights. Kentucky resident Hadley Duvall, who was raped by her stepfather and became pregnant at 12 and later miscarried, spoke at the Democratic 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,” she said.
Kentucky’s abortion ban law that went into effect after the Supreme Court’s actions has no exceptions for rape and incest.
Harris has called for a federal law that would restore the protections of reproductive health contained in Roe v. Wade and has said she would sign that legislation if elected president.
Public opinion polling shows most voters favor Harris’ position over Trump’s. In a July poll from AP-NORC, 7 in 10 respondents said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 8 in 10 support abortion access to save a life or in cases of rape or incest.
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