Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday that the Biden administration is not looking for an opportunity to perform abortions on federal land in states that are restricting proceedings following Friday’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Rowe against Wade.
The idea was presented Friday by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and repeated on Sunday by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) After the court overturned federal abortion rights and allowed states to set their own policies.
Harris is the first woman to hold the post, but she has faced criticism from abortion advocates who say she looks out of place by posting a photo showing cable news on the Air Force Two court ruling.
CNN reporter Dana Bash asked Harris in an interview Monday: “Can the administration expand access to abortion or abortion services on federal land – which means providing access to federal land that may exist in states that ban abortion?”
“I think what is most important at the moment is to ensure that the restrictions that states are trying to impose that would prohibit a woman from exercising what we still support are her right to do everything possible. to enable women not only to seek, but also to receive care where it is available, ”said Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration had not investigated a possible solution to abortion on federal soil. Bloomberg via Getty Images The vice president has been criticized by abortion advocates for posting a photo covering the court ruling. Kamala Harris
“Is federal land one of those options?” Bash pressed.
“I mean, that’s not exactly what we’re discussing,” Harris said before turning to the November midterm elections, which Republicans preferred to win because of public frustration with high inflation and record gas prices.
“I’m going to say that when I think about what’s going on with the states, we also have to admit, Dana, that we’re on 130 weird election days that will involve Senate running. Part of the issue here is that the court has acted and now Congress must act, “Harris said.
Harris said the Biden administration believes seeking abortion is a right that women are entitled to. STEPHANY REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
“But we – if you count the votes – do not seem to have the votes in the Senate. Well, there are elections. “
Ocasio-Cortez proposed using federal land to create islands for access to abortion in restrictive states as he spoke to protesters on the night of Union Square’s ruling in New York.
“There is also action available to President Biden that he can mobilize,” the AOC said. “I’ll start with the baby from the baby of the baby steps: Open abortion clinics in the federal states in the red states right now. Right now.”
The US Supreme Court has decided to repeal the constitutional right to abortion on Friday.Alex Scott / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Warren reiterated Sunday’s request, telling ABC that Biden should “make abortion as accessible as possible with the instruments at his disposal, including medical abortion, including the use of federal lands as a place where abortions can be performed.”
Harris, who downplayed possible presidential aspirations in 2024 in a Monday interview, also told Bash that she never trusted the three Supreme Court judges nominated by President Donald Trump when they told senators they would respect court precedents. .
“I never believed them, so I voted against them,” Harris said.
Harris continued to reject the idea of using his “hooligan pulpit” to urge 50 senators to change Senate rules to allow a federal abortion bill to be passed by a majority, telling Bash, “We don’t have numbers in the Senate.”
Harris said the Biden administration will fight to ensure that women maintain access in all states to FDA-approved drugs that can cause abortion. Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Biden administration said after a court ruling Friday that it would fight to ensure that women have access in all states to FDA-approved drugs that can cause abortion, and to ensure that women can travel from more restrictive to less restrictive countries for a procedure.
Asked about her initial reaction to the court ruling, Harris said: “I was shocked and you know, it’s one thing when you know something is going to happen. It’s another thing when it really happens. “
“I just turned to CNN and I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. Because they actually did it, “she added.
Harris went on to talk about how she thinks about how the decision will affect different people in her life.
“Everyone is taking a risk on this issue. “First of all, if you are a parent of sons, think about what that means for your son’s life and what it will mean in terms of the choices he will have,” Harris said.
“Think about it in the context of the fact that they wrote this decision, including concurring opinions that suggest that other rights, such as the freedom to decide when to start a family, the freedom and the right to make decisions about contraception, the IUD – what this will mean in terms of in vitro fertilization. “
Harris said a concerted opinion by Clarence Thomas calling for a review of court decisions on various other rights – including using contraceptives and marrying someone of the same sex – “said the quiet part of the voice”.
Although other conservative judges explicitly rejected the abortion decision, which has to do with other rights, Harris said, “I definitely believe it’s not over.”
“We all really need to understand the significance of what happened,” Harris said. “It’s deep. And the way this decision came, I think, was so driven by the question of what the values we place on freedom and liberty in our country should be. “
In another exchange, Harris told Bash on CNN that she would not run in 2024 to be the first American to be president.
“Joe Biden is running for re-election and I will be his partner,” she said.
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