Harris to warn in Arizona after abortion ruling a second Trump term would mean ‘more bans, more suffering’

Vice President Harris will rally supporters in Arizona on Friday, where outrage is brewing among Democrats over a court ruling that upheld an 1864 law and made performing abortion a felony. 

Harris will take direct aim at former President Trump in her remarks, according to excerpts shared by the Biden campaign. The vice president will say Trump “is to blame” for the wave of restrictions on abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and she will warn a second Trump term would mean more restrictions.

“Donald Trump is the architect of this health care crisis. And that’s not a fact he hides. In fact, he brags about it,” Harris will say, according to excerpts.

“And as much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse,” Harris is set to say. “If Donald Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban. How do we know? Look at his record. Congress tried to pass a national abortion ban before, in 2017, and then-President Trump endorsed it.”

“Here’s what a second Trump term looks like: more bans, more suffering, less freedom. But we are not going to let that happen,” Harris will say.

Harris’s trip to Arizona was quickly announced after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Civil War-era law passed before Arizona was even a state should be enforced. The court ruled to lift a stay on the law, meaning it goes into effect in 14 days.  

However, the justices also sent the case back to a lower trial court to sort out questions about the law’s constitutionality.

The century-old law makes abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain one. It includes an extremely narrow exception allowing for an abortion “when it is necessary” to save a pregnant person’s life.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) called for the 1864 ban to be repealed, and the state’s Democratic attorney general has said she will not enforce any bans on abortion.

Other speakers at Friday’s event are expected to include Arizona Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D), Tucson Mayor Regina Romero (D), abortion rights advocate Mini Timmaraju and other state officials. 

Patients and abortion providers will also be in attendance, the campaign said, as will second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

The Biden campaign has relentlessly attacked Trump in the wake of the Arizona ruling, which is the latest instance of a Republican state rolling back abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

The campaign announced Thursday amore than $1 million ad blitz in Arizona highlighting the court ruling. 

Trump earlier this week said it should be left up to the states to determine abortion policy, while appearing to say he would not sign a federal ban. Trump has frequently expressed pride in appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and his White House supported GOP legislation that passed the House during his first term that would have banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Trump, the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party, told reporters Wednesday he thought the Arizona law went too far and expected it to be “straightened out.”

“For 52 years, people have wanted to end Roe v. Wade to get it back to the states. We did that,” Trump said Wednesday. “It was an incredible thing, an incredible achievement. We did that.”

“Now the states have it, and the states are putting out what they want,” he continued. “It’s the will of the people.”