On Roe anniversary, Vice President Kamala Harris rallies for abortion rights

Vice President Kamala Harris urged lawmakers to protect abortion rights and assailed the GOP’s crackdown on a woman’s right to choose on Sunday, marking what would have been the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion.

Since the Supreme Court overturned the ruling last year, Republican lawmakers in states including Florida, where Harris gave her fiery speech, have enacted major crackdowns on abortion.

“Can we truly be free if families cannot make intimate decisions about the course of their own lives? And can we truly be free if so-called leaders claim to be … on the vanguard of freedom while they dare to restrict the rights of the American people and attack the very foundations of freedom?” the veep said as rallies took place throughout the country.

She recounted high-profile cases demonstrating the fallout of the end of Roe. Those include a 10-year girl Ohio girl who had to travel out of state for an abortion after she was raped and a 35-year-old Texas woman who nearly died after being refused treatment for a miscarriage.

Harris singled out Florida, where state lawmakers are moving to lower the latest date at which a woman can obtain an abortion by three weeks, to the 12th week of pregnancy.

“Here, in Florida, health care providers face prison — prison! — for up to five years for simply doing their job,” she thundered in her 19-minute speech in Tallahassee.

“And now the state has also targeted medication abortion and even threatened Florida pharmacists with criminal charges if they provide medication prescribed by medical professionals.”

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is weighing a presidential run in 2024, after his party did not do as well as expected in last year’s midterms. Dems see abortion rights as a winning issue for them.

With the House in Republican hands, national legislation to protect abortion rights is off the table for Harris’ fellow Democrats.

But the White House has been meeting with lawmakers in some of the most anti-abortion states — such as Nebraska, where the legislature is considering banning abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy — to strategize.

Before Sunday’s speech, Harris held a call with abortion rights activists, urging them to support pro-choice candidates in local contests.

“We are fighting for something. History is going to show we are on the right side of this issue,” she said. “So let us not be deterred, let us not be overwhelmed. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.”

Among numerous rallies throughout the country Sunday, NYC Mobilization for Reproductive Justice hosted speakers in Midtown.

“It’s been really tough. Actually, lately my gut reaction is that I was really scared,” organizer Marianna Ban told NY1. “Advocates say they are here to protect abortion rights here in New York but they are here especially for the people who had those rights taken away around the country.”

Local leaders sounded off on Roe’s anniversary.

“Abortion is health care and health care is a human right. And New York City will always protect human rights,” Mayor Adams tweeted.

Harris sought to take a long view of the issue.

“Let us not be tired or discouraged, because we’re on the right side of history,” she said. “Today I invite all Americans to join us, and remember … when we fight, we win.”

With News Wire Services