America is a promise. America is a promise. It is a promise of freedom and liberty, not for some, but for all. A promise we made in the Declaration of Independence, that we are each endowed with the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Be clear these rights were not bestowed upon us, they belong to us as Americans. ~ Kamala Harris leaves out the ‘right to life’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—On the day Americans opposed to abortion are celebrating National Sanctity of Life Sunday in their churches, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Biden administration’s continued commitment to increased access to abortion.
Harris delivered the message to a packed house of 2,000 people after at least 1,000 more were turned away at the door because the Tallahassee, Florida venue was at capacity.
Harris’s speech was meant to commemorate the 5oth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the United States.
The Supreme Court stole women’s “fundamental right” to abortion in June 2022, when it overturned Roe v. Wade, sending decisions on abortion back to states, Harris said while visiting The Moon nightclub.
She received enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
Harris compared abortion supporters’ efforts to those of slavery abolitionists, women’s suffrage activists, civil rights activists, and Stonewall riot participants.
“In each of these movements, those leaders expanded rights, which then advanced the cause of freedom and liberty,” Harris told the crowd. “And 50 years ago today, so did those who won a fight in the United States Supreme Court to recognize the fundamental constitutional right of a woman to make decisions about her own body.”
She delivered that statement in the state capital of Florida, currently governed by Republican rising star Gov. Ron DeSantis. Though he consistently has deflected the question of whether he will run for president in 2024, DeSantis is widely expected to announce his candidacy this year.
Harris accused Tallahassee leaders of passing a “radical abortion ban” with no exceptions for children conceived by rape, human trafficking, or child molestation. In 2022, lawmakers passed a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.
“Today, we are fighting back,” Harris said.
She announced that President Joe Biden has issued a memorandum directing his administration to recommend actions that guarantee women can receive abortion medication from doctors and pharmacies.
“As clinics are closing in those states, patients have lost access to other basic care,” Harris said.
