Vice President Kamala Harris will tell a dark story about what a possible second Trump term would look like when she visits Arizona on Friday afternoon.
Harris will hold a campaign event in Tuscon days after the state Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that criminalizes abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. In prepared remarks, Harris blames former President Trump for making that decision possible with his appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending federal protections for abortion.
"Here in Arizona, they have turned the clock back more than a century on women’s rights and freedoms. The overturning of Roe was a seismic event. And this ban in Arizona is one of the biggest aftershocks yet," Harris will say, according to excerpts released by the Biden campaign.
She will call Trump "the architect of this health care crisis" and make the case that a second Trump term would mean "more bans, more suffering, less freedom."
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"And as much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse. If Donald Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban. How do we know? Look at his record. Congress tried to pass a national abortion ban before, in 2017, and then-President Trump endorsed it."
The Arizona Supreme Court delivered a 4-2 ruling Tuesday that said the 1864 law — passed when Arizona was a territory and codified in 1913 when it became a state — is "now enforceable" after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
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The state court rejected arguments that a 15-week abortion ban passed in 2022 should be enforced instead, finding that the more recent law "does not create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority for, an abortion that repeals or restricts" the 1913 law.
The Civil War-era law makes it a felony for anyone who "provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life," potentially carrying a prison sentence between 2 and 5 years.
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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has urged state lawmakers to swiftly repeal the law and the state's Democratic attorney general has said she will not enforce any abortion bans.
Harris' prepared remarks reflect the Democratic Party's 2024 strategy of going all-out on abortion following the end of Roe.
The Biden campaign this week announced a seven-figure ad purchase targeting Arizona voters with a focus on abortion rights. A new ad, called "Power Back," will air on TV stations in Arizona and call Trump responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing abortion bans like Arizona's to move forward.
Fox News Digital's Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
