Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin
After the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v. Wade ruling three months earlier, US Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear to the Court that she disapproved of the decision, leading the high-ranking official to refer to the Court as an “activist court.”
“We had an established right for almost half a century, which is the right of women to make decisions about their own body as an extension of what we have decided to be, the privacy rights to which all people are entitled. And this Court took that constitutional right away, and we are suffering as a nation because of it,” said the Vice President.
The Vice President made the remarks when the White House was being slammed for the landmark case’s immediate ban by the Supreme Court. Harris has been forthright in her opposition to the SC’s conviction. With the court ruling, women’s federally protected right to an abortion was revoked. Harris claims that the ruling hurt a multitude of stakeholders, particularly women who are now deprived of the right to make their own choices.
Since the Supreme Court reversed the 1973 judgment, Harris has been traveling the country and consulting with organizations to address the consequences of the recent decision with various stakeholders.
“[It has caused me] great concern about the integrity of the court overall, especially as someone who my life was inspired by people like Thurgood Marshall, the work on that court of Earl Warren,” stated Harris.
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Harris has always been against the ban on abortion
Harris consistently affirmed her support for abortion rights as she ran for vice president. Furthermore, Harris ran on a platform to alter states that had severe restrictions against abortion rights three years ago when she was nominated by the Democratic Party for president.
“We cannot tolerate a perspective that is about going backward and not understanding women have agency,” Harris stated.
Harris previously disclosed to the general public that she does not trust certain justices that former President Donald Trump appointed.
Roe v. Wade decision overturned
Many people were concerned about prospective threats to the federal right to abortion when the Supreme Court revived the historical case contesting the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. Pro-choice and pro-life activists went into a frenzy when the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote.
After the release of the ruling, many protested the SC’s stance on the subject. Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and President Joe Biden were among the politicians who voiced their disapproval.
“It’s a sad day for the Court and for the country. It was three justices named by one president, Donald Trump, who were the core of today’s decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country. Make no mistake, this decision is a culmination of a deliberate effort over decades to upset the balance of our law,” said the president in a media address.
“The Court has done what it’s never done before, expressly take away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans that had already been recognized. The Court’s decision to do so will have real and immediate consequences,” added the president.
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The verdict is “such an insult, a slap in the face to women,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the reporters.
“There’s no point in saying good morning because it certainly is not one. This morning the radical Supreme Court is eviscerating women’s rights and endangering their health and safety,” added Pelosi.
The Court’s majority, however, held its decision and stated: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
Source: CNN
Opinions expressed by Texas Today contributors are their own.
