Vice President Harris on Sunday argued the implications of anti-abortion laws go beyond the medical procedure and present a larger “crisis” for other women’s health treatments.
Harris, speaking with MSNBC on Sunday, and two years since the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, warned “everything is at stake” in the upcoming election regarding abortion and other reproductive freedoms.
“Fundamentally, on this issue, it’s about freedom, and every person of whatever gender should understand that if such a fundamental freedom such as the right to make decisions about your own body can be taken, be aware of what other freedoms may be at stake,” Harris told MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-anchor Mika Brzezinski.
The vice president pointed out reproductive care clinics offer more than just abortion services, underscoring the threat state abortion bans can present to other reproductive care services.
“This issue really does present a health care crisis in America, including the fact that I am, as it turns out, the first vice president — and no president — has visited a reproductive care clinic. And one of the reasons I went to that clinic was to highlight — in those clinics that are trusted in the community — you can get a pap [smear], breast cancer screening, HIV screening,” Harris said. “The things that where people want to be able to walk into a health care facility and be treated with dignity and without judgement so they can address their health care concerns.”
“That’s what these clinics do, and in states where they pass these Trump abortion bans, these clinics are closing, which means that there is a reduction of very essential health care across the board for a lot of people,” she added.
Harris’s interview with MSNBC was done alongside Hadley Duvall, a 22-year-old woman who is an abortion rights advocate following sexual abuse by her stepfather.
Duvall called on voters to take a stand on the issue at the ballot boxes this November.
“It does not matter if you have never voted Democrat in your life. It’s get off your high horse, because women, we don’t get to choose a whole lot, and you at least can choose who you can vote for,” Duvall told Brzezinski.
The interview came alongside the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the 1973 precedent granting the constitutional right to abortion.
The nation’s high court granted states authority to limit or ban abortion procedures, and in the months that followed, several Republican-led states moved to pass legislation restricting or prohibiting residents’ access to the procedure.
A total of 14 states have stopped nearly all abortion services, while three states have six-week bans, according to a tally from ABC News.
More of the interview is set to air Monday morning.