副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯周六谈到了最高法院推翻罗伊诉韦德案判决的影响。
“这是一个严重的问题，”哈里斯说。“这需要我们所有人大声说出来，大声说出来，积极行动起来。”
哈里斯是在新奥尔良的精华文化节上发表上述言论的，该文化节是美国最大的非裔美国人文化庆典之一，在那里她与女演员柯克·帕尔莫进行了一次“炉边聊天”。白宫官员说，这是自最高法院发布裁决以来，副总统发表的最大一次演讲。
哈里斯称法院在多布斯诉杰克逊妇女健康组织一案中做出的终止50年来全国堕胎权的决定“令人愤慨”。
她说:“我们必须认识到，我们是一个建立在某些原则基础上的国家，这些原则植根于自由和自由的概念。”。“我们也知道，在这个国家，我们有一段政府试图要求对人体拥有所有权的历史，我们应该是从那个时候和那种思维方式进化而来的。所以这在很多层面上都很成问题。”
哈里斯描述了她得知罗伊被驳回的那一刻，告诉观众当判决公布时，她正在去伊利诺伊州会见民主党众议员劳伦·安德伍德的路上。
哈里斯和安德伍德在孕产妇保健问题上合作过。一项新的研究发现美国的孕产妇死亡率攀升了33%自从冠状病毒疫情开始以来，黑人和西班牙裔女性的死亡率高于白人女性。
哈里斯说:“在那次旅行的过程中，最高法院对多布斯案的判决在我们国家的历史上第一次从美国妇女手中夺走了一项已经得到承认的宪法权利。”。
副总统还警告说，这一决定可能会影响其他隐私权，如避孕和同性婚姻的使用。
"除此之外，我们认为已经确定的法律还有哪些可能是易受攻击的?"她质疑道。
主持谈话的帕尔默问哈里斯，在罗伊案被废除后，美国人能做些什么。
“不要被压倒，以至于我们感到沮丧，我们认为我们对此无能为力，”哈里斯回答说。“这是它的本质，这些收益不会是永久的，所以我们必须保持警惕，我们必须记住，我们将永远不得不为维护这些权利而斗争。”
在新奥尔良期间，哈里斯还将私下会见生殖公正组织的领导人。
拜登政府已经采取了一些措施来保护获得生殖保健的机会，包括保护跨州旅行的妇女获得堕胎服务和健康，并确保获得联邦批准的药物，如避孕药和米非司酮。
周五，乔·拜登总统会见了民主党州长，讨论了保障医疗保健和妇女权利的额外努力。
但是总统说这取决于国会来制定联邦法律对参议院的阻挠议事民主党人这样做的任何尝试都可能会失败。
Kamala Harris speaks on 'outrageous' repeal of Roe at Essence Festival
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Saturday about the implications of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"This is a serious matter," Harris said. "It requires all of us to speak up, speak out and to be active."
Harris made the remarks at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, one of the largest African American culture celebrations in the country, where she participated in a "fireside chat" with actress Keke Palmer. It was the largest audience the vice president addressed since the Supreme Court issued its ruling, White House officials said.
Harris called the court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to end 50 years of nationwide abortion access "outrageous."
"We have to recognize we're a nation that was founded on certain principles that are grounded in the concept of freedom and liberty," she said. "We also know that we've had a history in this country of government trying to claim ownership over human bodies and we had supposedly evolved from that time and that way of thinking. So this is very problematic on so many levels."
Harris described the moment she learned Roe was struck down, telling the audience she was on her way to meet with Democratic Congresswoman Lauren Underwood in Illinois when the decision was released.
Harris and Underwood have worked together on the issue of maternal health care. A new study found maternal mortality rates in the U.S. have climbed 33% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with Black and Hispanic women dying at higher rates than White women.
"On the course of that trip, the Supreme Court with the Dobbs decision for the first time in the history of our nation took a constitutional right that had been recognized and took it from the women of America," Harris said.
The vice president also warned the decision could impact other privacy rights, such as the use of contraception and same-sex marriage.
"What else might be vulnerable that we otherwise thought was settled law?" she questioned.
Palmer, who moderated the conversation, asked Harris what Americans can do in the wake of Roe's repeal.
"Don't be overwhelmed to the point that we are disheartened and we think that we cannot do anything about it," Harris replied. "It's the nature of it that these gains will not be permanent, so we must be vigilant and we must remember we're always going to have to fight to maintain these rights."
While in New Orleans, Harris will also meet privately with leaders of reproductive justice organizations.
The Biden administration has taken some steps to protect access to reproductive health care, including protecting women traveling across state lines for abortion services and Health and ensuring access to federally-approved medication such as contraception and the abortion pill mifepristone.
President Joe Biden met with Democratic governors on Friday to discuss additional efforts to safeguard health care and women's rights.
But the president has said it's up to Congress to make Roe federal law, and without a carveout to the Senate filibuster it's likely any attempt to do so by Democrats will fail.
