Kamala Harris ties Trump to Arizona's strict new abortion ban during campaign visit

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Tucson, Arizona, for a campaign event on Friday — three days after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a near-total ban on abortion in the state, a ruling celebrated by abortion opponents but lambasted by Democrats and abortion rights supporters, who contend women will die from the policy.

Harris placed blame for the court decision squarely on former President Donald Trump for allowing abortion bans like Arizona’s because of his role in the overruling of Roe v. Wade’s nationwide abortion guarantee.

“What has happened here in Arizona is a new inflection point. It has demonstrated once and for all that overturning Roe was just the opening act,” she said. “Just the opening act of a larger strategy to take women’s rights and freedoms — part of a full on attack state by state on reproductive freedom. And, and we all must understand who is to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this.”

Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and others joined Harris, along with the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.

“Just this week, here in Arizona, they have turned back the clock to 1800s to take away a woman’s most fundamental right — the right to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said.

She shot back at Trump saying in a nearly simultaneous event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that, if elected, he would not sign a national ban, saying it was no longer needed.

“The overturning of Roe was without any question is a seismic event. And this ban here in Arizona is one of the biggest aftershocks yet,” she said. “And now, Trump wants us to believe he will not sign a national ban. Enough with the gaslighting enough with the gaslighting. We all know if Donald Trump gets the chance he will sign a national abortion ban — and how do we know? Just look at his record.”

Trump this week criticized Arizona’s strict restriction, saying he feels it goes too far, while also touting the end of Roe and saying abortion must now be decided by the people of each state.

“It needs to be straightened out, and I’m sure that the governor and everybody else will bring it back into reason and that will be taken care of,” he said.

Harris and the Biden reelection campaign have seized on the issue in the early phases of the general election fight against Trump.

The vice president on Friday also offered criticism of Republican state lawmakers who blocked a push this week to repeal the 19th-century ban, adjourning until next week instead, with legislative leaders saying they need more time to hear from constituents and weigh next steps.

Under the 160-year-old law predating Arizona’s statehood, the only exception permitted is to save the life of the mother, and doctors could face punishment of up to five years in prison for aiding with an abortion.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom at El Rio Neighborhood Center in Tucson, Ariz., April 12, 2024.

Republican leaders in the politically important battleground state, many of whom praised the U.S. Supreme Court decision against Roe two years ago, have softened their rhetoric on abortion this week.

Senate candidate Kari Lake, as well as House Reps. David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani, all criticized the state Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday. All three face competitive elections in November.

If the Arizona Legislature doesn’t pass a new law dismantling the 1864 ban, voters could still see abortion rights on the ballot come November.

MORE: Arizona abortion ruling, which Democrats decry, splits Republicans and abortion opponents

Organizers at Arizona for Abortion Access say they’ve already exceeded the necessary signature threshold for a ballot initiative that would, if approved by voters, enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. But advocates say that they’ll continue to gather every signature possible until the state’s July 3 filing deadline.

The Biden-Harris campaign praised that coalition in a new campaign memo on Thursday, in which senior adviser Jen Cox called it “one most ambitious operations our state has ever seen.”

“Donald Trump is responsible for the state of reproductive freedom in Arizona today,” Cox wrote. “Arizona women know it, and it’s why a broad coalition of Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans will stand together to defeat him in November – just like they did in 2020.”

Abortion rights activists attend a news conference addressing the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban at the Arizona state Capitol in Phoenix, April 9, 2024.

“Abortion has always been a central issue at the heart of the 2024 race in Arizona, now it’s more politically potent than ever,” she added.

Biden’s 2020 win in Arizona was the most narrow of his battleground victories over Trump.

MORE: Arizona Republicans block quick push to repeal near-total abortion ban, which hasn’t taken effect yet

His reelection campaign launched a media blitz in Arizona on Thursday, hitting Trump’s record on abortion as part of a seven-figure ad buy, seizing on the issue they see as galvanizing to wide swaths of the electorate — while Trump has been hammering Biden over high inflation, immigration and more.

“Your body and your decisions belong to you, not the government, not Donald Trump,” Biden said in a new ad the campaign said will target young, female and Latino voters on broadcast and digital platforms. “I will fight like hell to get your freedom back.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Harris’ visit is not part of her “reproductive freedoms” tour.