The response marked one of Harris’ sharpest condemnations yet as the White House faces mounting pressure to meet the moment and be more aggressive on abortion rights legislation. The vice president — the Biden administration’s lead messenger on the issue — has been continuously vocal in her opposition to the court’s ruling that struck down the landmark decision that federally protected a woman’s right to the procedure.
Harris added that the decision has caused harm.
“This court took that constitutional right away. And we are suffering as a nation because of it,” she said.
Harris said the court’s actions have caused her “great concern about the integrity of the court overall, especially as someone who my life was inspired by people like Thurgood Marshall, the work on that court of Earl Warren,” citing justices who broke barriers and expanded rights. “It’s a very different court.”
Abortion rights have long been a prominent issue for Harris in her campaigns. When she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, she vowed, if elected, to require states with a history of restricting abortion rights to obtain federal approval before any new abortion law could take effect.
“We cannot tolerate a perspective that is about going backward and not understanding women have agency,” Harris said at the time.
