Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision to end federal abortion rights, telling a crowd at the Essence Cultural Festival in New Orleans on Saturday that the decision would limit the rights of women in the country.
“What essentially happened is that a statement was made that the government has the right to come into your home and tell you as a woman and as a family what you should do with your life,” Harris told an appreciative crowd of mostly black women while being interviewed by Emmy Award-winning actress Keke Palmer.
Harris repeatedly used what has historically been the language of conservatives, saying the Supreme Court’s decision now has the government telling people how to live their lives.
Vice President Kamala Harris laughs during a discussion with Emmy-winning actress Keke Palmer during the Essence Culture Festival, Saturday, July 2, 2022, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
A woman, Harris said, must “make one of the most intimate decisions she should have the right to make without government interference. She should be allowed to communicate with her pastor, or her priest, or her rabbi, or her family, but not by getting permission from the government.
Louisiana banned most abortions thanks to a 2006 state law that was triggered last month when the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court concluded on June 24 that there is no constitutional right to abortion, leaving regulation to individual states.
State law is on hold
However, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Robin Giarusso blocked the state law from taking effect for at least a few weeks, questioning its constitutionality. Giarusso will hold a hearing on July 8 on whether to continue serving her order. Meanwhile, the state’s three abortion clinics — in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans — remain open.
Harris was relaxed and smiling as she sat in a soft chair at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and answered Palmer’s friendly questions for 30 minutes before a crowd of about 1,500. Palmer drew a standing ovation when she noted that Harris was the first female vice president.
Emmy-winning actress Keke Palmer leads a discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris during the Essence Festival of Culture, Saturday, July 2, 2022, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
At an event focused on women’s empowerment, Harris told the crowd not to lose heart over the decision to overturn Roe.
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“There is strength in numbers and there is strength in knowing that the vast majority of us have much more in common than what separates us,” Harris said. “The people who are trying to attack our rights are trying to make people feel small and alone and different because they want you to believe that you have no power and that you’re out there alone. We will not allow that to happen.”
Palmer asked Harris what keeps her going. Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney, California’s attorney general, and finally a U.S. senator from California when she was elected vice president in 2020 as Joe Biden’s running mate.
Vice President Kamala Harris walks in for a discussion with Emmy-winning actress Keke Palmer, left, during the Essence Festival of Culture on Saturday, July 2, 2022, at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
“I’m not hearing no,” Harris said. “Don’t hear ‘It can’t be done.’ Don’t hear, “No one like you has done this before.”
“I like to say I don’t eat breakfast. Surround yourself with a community and people – it doesn’t have to be a big group – who love you and will cheer you on and sometimes push you out the door to go and do. Because those people who love you and trust you enough, when you fall, they’ll be there to laugh with you because you’re down, but also to pick you up and keep going.”
Her previous visits
Harris is no stranger to New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana. In March, she visited Sunset, north of Lafayette, to highlight a $30 million federal grant that will fund high-speed Internet service in 11 rural Acadiana communities.
She also spoke at Essence’s last in-person gathering in 2019 and made two other visits that year to New Orleans to promote her campaign to become the country’s first female president.
Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, made New Orleans history a year ago by making the first visit to the city by a male vice presidential spouse. He tossed a plastic ball to children at the YMCA in Belle Chasse and handed out food baskets at the Broadmoor Community Church.
Backstage after Saturday’s panel, Harris greeted a group of local politicians, including former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, who is president of the National Urban League; former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, who recently stepped down as a senior White House adviser to play an outside strategy role for the national Democratic Party; Helena Moreno, New Orleans City Council President and co-chair of the Harris 2020 Louisiana Campaign; and Donna Brazile, a Kenner native and television pundit who has twice served as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
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