Harris to hit out at Trump over Arizona abortion ban during visit to state: ‘This is what a second Trump term looks like’

Vice-president Kamala Harris is set to hit out at Donald Trump over the recent Arizona abortion ban based on Civil War-era legislation in a visit to the state on Friday.

The Biden campaign has recently released statements blaming the former president for “ripping away fundamental rights” when Roe v Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2022.

Ms Harris, who has been at the forefront of leading the reaction towards the overturning of Roe v Wade and abortion rights, is now slated to speak on the recent Arizona abortion ban in Tuscon and will condemn Mr Trump.

“We all must understand who is to blame: It is the former president, Donald Trump,” Ms Harris will say before a crowd of reproductive health patients and providers, according to excerpts from a campaign official seen by Reuters.

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

Arizona’s Supreme Court upheld a near-total abortion ban in the state on Tuesday, a ban that rests on a law from 158 years ago.

Political strategists have prophesied that this recent ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court may affect citizens’ voting, suggesting that even Republican-leaning moderate voters could swing towards Democrats on the ballot.

Ms Harris already visited Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, last month in a “Fight for Reproduction Freedoms” tour in which she called in on 20 different states, including visiting a health clinic that offers abortion services in Minnesota, the first sitting vice-president believed to ever do so.

The Biden campaign also released a video a day before the Arizona ban depicting a Texas woman speaking out about how she almost died after she was denied an abortion following a miscarriage.

After the clip, the words “Trump did this” appeared on a black screen as the woman burst into tears.

The post added that one in three women in the United States now live under an abortion ban, and in a statement on Tuesday, Mr Biden pledged that they will “continue to fight to protect reproductive rights and call on Congress to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v Wade for women in every state”.

Mr Trump has also spoken out about the abortion ban in the border state when a reporter asked him if Arizona went too far with their abortion ban that is upheld on a Civil War-era law.

“Yeah, they did,” Mr Trump replied. “That’ll be straightened out, as you know, it’s all about states’ rights, it’ll be straightened out.”

However, Mr Trump has been a stark supporter of putting the decisions over abortions back to the states and has repeatedly taken credit for overturning  Roe v Wade, a ruling that has now led to Arizona’s decision to outlaw most abortions in the state.

“President Trump could not have been more clear. These are decisions for people of each state to make,” said Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, later said after Wednesday’s remarks.

However, strategists now believe this new ban at the border state will present opportunities for Democrats to mobilise votes as they refer back to where this stemmed from Roe v Wade.

“This was an earthquake of epic proportions in Arizona politics,” Barrett Marson, a Phoenix-based Republican strategist, told Reuters this week.

“Any time Republicans are talking about abortion, they’re losing. Now, I think the only issue is going to be abortion.”

Alongside Mr Trump, other Republicans have started to retreat from an anti-abortion standpoint after Arizona’s Supreme Court decision, such as Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, who in the past has remarked she was “thrilled” at the prospect of her state banning abortions except when the patient’s life is in danger.

However, Ms Lake seemingly went back on herself and declared that she opposed the ruling, along with other Arizona lawmakers who have come out in opposition to the ruling despite endorsing the ban in previous years.