JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Vice President Kamala Harris took center stage on the first day of Florida’s unprecedented six-week limit on abortion ban that took effect at midnight.
During her address in Jacksonville on Wednesday, Harris spoke on the diminished reproductive freedoms for the approximately four million women waking up in the state, framing the law as a “consequence” of the previous administration’s policies.
“Four million women woke up in this state with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had night,” said Harris. “This is a new reality under a Trump abortion ban.”
Her remarks, characterized by many as resembling a campaign speech, positioned abortion rights as a pivotal issue leading up to the November elections.
Asserting the principle that the government should not intervene in the relationship between a woman and her doctor, Harris referenced President Joe Biden’s recent remarks in Tampa on the matter.
“Women have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers have because of Donald Trump,” said Biden last month.
The campaign has placed blame squarely on Trump for abortion restrictions across Florida and the nation, particularly following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which granted states jurisdiction over abortion laws.
Trump, in a Time Magazine interview released just before Florida’s six-week limit went into effect, implied support for state monitoring of pregnancies post-ban, a stance he echoed during his 2016 campaign.
“Do you think states should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban?” a reporter asked Trump.
“I think they might do that. Again, you’ll have to speak to the individual states,” Trump responded.
However, while on his 2016 presidential campaign trail, Trump said: “There has to be some form of punishment.
“For the woman?” a reporter asked.
“Yeah, there has to be some form,” he replied.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, a prominent figure in the abortion rights movement, emphasized the importance of opposing such restrictions.
“If you want to protect democracy and freedom across the entire country, you have to come to the belly of the beast,” she said.