Kamala Harris to visit Arizona after abortion ban ruling

by Julia Mueller - 04/09/24 2:48 PM ET

Vice President Harris will visit Arizona on Friday “to continue her leadership in the fight for reproductive freedoms,” the White House announced just after the state’s Supreme Court upheld a near-total abortion ban Tuesday.

The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision upheld an 1864 law that made performing an abortion a felony, including only a narrow exception to save a pregnant person’s life. It rejected arguments it should uphold a 15-week abortion ban passed in 2022.

“Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump,” Harris said in a statement, taking a swing at the former president.

“It’s a reality because of Donald Trump, who brags about being ‘proudly the person responsible’ for overturning Roe v. Wade, and made it possible for states to enforce cruel bans,” she said, blasting Arizona’s ban as “extreme and dangerous.”

The ruling came under swift fire from Democrats.

“This is what leaving it to the states looks like,” Ammar Moussa, the Biden campaign’s rapid response director, said in a post on the social platform X. A day prior, former President Trump said the fate of abortion should be determined by individual states.

The vice president’s upcoming trip marks her second visit to the Grand Canyon State this year, after she visited Phoenix last month to advocate for reproductive rights as the court considered the matter.

“The alarm is sounding for every woman in America: if he has the opportunity, Donald Trump would sign off on a national abortion ban. He has called for punishing women and doctors. If he wins, he and his allies have plans to ban abortion and restrict access to birth control, with or without Congress,” Harris said Tuesday.

In a statement from the White House on Tuesday, President Biden said the Arizona ruling is “a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom.”

Updated at 3:06 p.m. ET