VIce President Kamala Harris will explicitly blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s recently upheld near-total abortion ban in a speech Friday, attacking the former president on an issue expected to dominate the state’s elections this fall.
In her remarks in Tucson, Harris will condemn what she sees as an attack on women’s rights and frame Arizona’s abortion ban as a direct consequence of Trump-era policies and rhetoric, according to excerpts of her speech released by the Biden campaign. . “This is what a second Trump term looks like: more bans, more suffering, less freedom,” she will say. “But we won’t let that happen.”
Harris’s trip to Arizona comes just four days after the state’s Supreme Court ruled to bring back the 160-year-old near-total ban on abortion, putting the critical, swing state at the forefront of the battle for reproductive rights this year. electoral. Political strategists from both parties told TIME that the decision will likely sway even moderate Republicans toward the Democratic camp while energizing young voters.
Biden’s campaign used the decision to intensify its efforts to attack Republicans and blame Trump, who regularly takes credit for nominating the three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped oust Roe v. almost two years ago. In her speech, Harris plans to paint Trump as “the architect of this health crisis” and point to his past comments about how women who seek abortions should be punished, the excerpts say, marking one of her most direct attacks on Trump’s stance on abortion to this day.
See more information: After Abortion Ban, Arizona Just Became the Most Important State in 2024 Politics
In recent months, Harris has become increasingly vocal about the Biden Administration’s support for protecting reproductive rights and combating the erosion of women’s access to health care across the country, signaling how abortion has become a central issue. in the next presidential elections. His trip to Arizona follows a series of national engagements centered on reproductive rights, including stops in swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia.
The fight for reproductive rights has become one of the most potent issues in recent years to motivate Democrats to vote – and polls show that abortion could similarly motivate Arizona voters this fall. A Fox News March Poll before the state Supreme Court ruling concluded that 39% of Arizona voters said abortion would be extremely important in deciding their vote for president, and 32% said it would be very important. On a October New York Times-Siena College Poll as of last year, 59% of registered voters in Arizona said abortion should be mostly or always legal; 34% said it should be mostly or always illegal. This week’s decision will likely make the issue even more significant for the state’s voters.
Trump’s position on the abortion ban has changed ahead of the 2024 election. He said Wednesday that the Arizona Supreme Court went too far in its decision and previously refused to endorse a federal abortion ban, saying on Monday- It was clear that decisions regarding abortion should be left to each state. As president, he supported a 20-week federal ban on abortion, which never passed Congress.
Arizona, a swing state that helped secure Joe Biden’s presidency in 2020 after voting for Trump in 2016, will have a critical role to play in both the November presidential election and a Senate race that will help determine the balance of power. . in Congress. Not only will voters weigh in on abortion when voting for candidates, but they will also likely vote for a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion in the Arizona constitution.
“This abortion initiative is going to drive a lot of young voters to the polls,” says Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist based in Arizona. “Biden’s campaign [is]… you will have to say, look, come for the abortion initiative, stay for us. They need to make sure voters don’t just vote for abortion and then go home.”
A campaign official said the Biden campaign plans to increase its abortion messaging in Arizona ahead of the election, revealing a seven-figure investment ahead of Harris’ visit that includes advertising efforts aimed at bolstering support for abortion rights.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
