Yet again, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered remarks full of lying and fear-mongering about the ramifications of overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court which legalized abortion on demand in all 50 states. A leaked opinion draft from early last month shows that the Court looks to do just that with Dobbs v. Jackson.
At the start of her remarks on Tuesday, the vice president justified her support for Roe based on our founding principles. Speaking of "principles of freedom, liberty, and self-determination," Harris claimed that "I do believe that all of those principles are at stake when we look at the leaked draft opinion about what this decision may end up being."
"From these principles, most notably, come the constitutional right to privacy — the right of an individual to make decisions about their life, about their family, about their body without government interference. And so, there’s a lot at stake in the outcome of this decision," she added.
Harris then went on to raise concerns how "states that have criminalized abortion could subpoena a woman’s personal data," even raising concerns about "the vulnerability of women who are using menstrual tracking apps." Mainstream media outlets have similarly gone with such a talking point, as I addressed more in depth last month.
The vice president also mentioned "a concern that if Roe is overturned, states with abortion bans could potentially restrict IVF if their definition of life begins at the point of fertilization" and how "we believe that states with abortion bans from the moment of fertilization could potentially restrict specific types of contraception — in particular, IUDs and the so-called morning-after pill."
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"I do believe that overturning Roe could clear the way for challenges to other fundamental rights, including the right to use contraception and — and same-sex marriage," Harris said, doubling down. She all went on to emphasize "I think it’s a very important point to make that many of the states that have passed trigger ban laws are also the states that are passing laws to restrict trans rights, gay rights, and the freedom to vote."
Many media outlets ran with the vice president claiming states could roll back IVF as well as the right to contraception and same-sex marriage.
.@VP Harris: "I do believe that overturning Roe could clear the way for challenges to other fundamental rights, including the right to use contraception and same sex marriage." https://t.co/oPtgLFeCmJ pic.twitter.com/h93IeWEFbZ
— The Hill (@thehill) June 15, 2022
When CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) last month, besides not even bothering to hide his disdain for the pro-life position, he asked if the state legislature would move to ban contraception. Reeves answered that that was not something they were considering, though dishonest liberals still went after him for such a response.
This is not the first time Harris has discussed the abortion issue in light of Roe likely being overturned. In fact, it's at least the third time she has held such a roundtable. She's made similar claims about the ramifications of the Dobbs decision each time.
The White House Briefing Room indicates that there have been numerous meetings to do with so-called "reproductive rights" in recent weeks.
Not only did the vice president host a roundtable on Tuesday afternoon, but that same day, White House staff held a meeting with "State Legislative Leaders" on the issue, and other staff met with "Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Leaders."
Also this month there have been meetings between the White House and "Religious Denominational Leaders" as well as a meeting to do with "Young Leaders on Reproductive Justice and Civil Rights."
Last week, the White House also held a meeting to do with "Disabled Activists on Reproductive Rights." According to the readout, "Participants discussed the disproportionate effect that Americans with disabilities will face if Roe v Wade is overturned, and highlighted numerous barriers such as the lack of accessible facilities and transportation."
It's worth noting, though, which the readout did not, that unborn children are often discriminately targeted due to disabilities or abnormalities, such as Down Syndrome, that they may be diagnosed with in utero. States have been increasingly passing legislation to protect children from being aborted on the basis of sex, race, or abnormality. A circuit split in April of last year allowed such an Ohio law to go into effect.
In a report from Joint Economic Committee Republicans that was released in March, an estimated 60 to 90 percent of children diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome are aborted.
Harris is hardly the only Democrat to spread fear-mongering lies over the ramifications of the decision, though she is certainly a prominent one. If the draft opinion holds, as Harris and others are concerned about, Justice Samuel Alito in his draft emphasized that the Dobbs decision only affects Roe, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and the issue of abortion, as Spencer highlighted.
The Supreme Court declined to release the Dobbs opinion on Wednesday. The Court has yet to announce when the next round of opinions will be handed down.
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