Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, spoke during a campaign event in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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Brynn Anderson/AP
ATLANTA – Vice President Harris called former President Donald Trump the “architect” of the health care crisis caused by the rollback of access to abortion in various states after the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn it. Roe v. Wade.
Speaking in Atlanta Friday, Harris called tougher abortion laws “ridiculous” and slammed Republicans for what he called “long-term neglect” of maternal deaths.
“These hypocrites want to start talking about, ‘This is for the benefit of women and children,'” she said. “Well, where have you been?” … How dare you? How dare? Come on.”
As Harris tries to address the issue of abortion on the campaign trail, on Friday he referenced from ProPublica the death of two Georgia women after the state’s new abortion law was deemed “preventable” by a state committee of maternal health experts.
An investigation published this week revealed two women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, who died of complications related to abortion after Georgia’s strict law effectively banned abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
“There’s a word – preventable – and there’s another word: predictable,” Harris said. “And the truth is that for every story here about the suffering in Trump’s abortion ban, there are many stories that we don’t hear about where the suffering is every day in our country.”
Trump has announced the nomination of a Supreme Court judge who helped repeal the constitutional right to abortion.
Thurman and Miller died from complications that occurred after their bodies failed to expel all fetal tissue after a medical abortion, according to records reviewed by ProPublica. Thurman died after doctors waited more than 20 hours to treat the infection; Miller died at home without seeking medical attention “because of the current laws on pregnancy and abortion,” her family told ProPublica. NPR has not independently confirmed the report.
Some anti-abortion groups have characterized the deaths as related to abortion laws, blaming the Biden administration’s regulations on medication abortions.
“Amber Thurman and Candi Miller did not die because of legal denial of care,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said in a statement. The group blamed the administration for lifting safety requirements while facilitating access to drug abortions for those who die, as well as a lack of adequate medical care.
Republicans also rejected Harris’ narrative about the woman’s death, with a GOP spokesman accusing the vice president of spreading “misinformation.”
“Georgia has not only made clear exemptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, but it also includes providing necessary care in the event of a medical emergency,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Morgan Ackley said in a statement. “There is no reason why doctors cannot act quickly to protect mothers’ lives.”
Friday’s event comes as the presidential campaign enters its final six weeks, with Georgia as one of the swing states that will decide the winner and as abortion rights continue to be a motivating issue for both Democratic and Democratic voters.
Harris was introduced by Dr. Keisha Reddick, a Savannah OB-GYN who says stricter abortion restrictions in Georgia and other states “put women’s health and lives at risk.”
“I see the fear in the patient’s eyes,” he said. “I see women who have left the country to get the treatment they need, and who cannot do it. I watch medical students and other doctors not to come to our country, who are packing their lives to go to the country … (where) they shall not be imprisoned for swearing.
Reddick said that has left Georgia with fewer health care providers in a state that has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the nation.
Harris also discussed abortion during a campaign event Thursday with Oprah Winfrey in Michigan. He will hold a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., later Friday.
