US VP Harris speaks out in support of lawsuit challenging Texas abortion ban

US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out in support of a lawsuit by five women in Texas. The lawsuit challenged the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Harris issued a statement released by the White House, speaking out in support of the five women who are currently leading a lawsuit against the near-total abortion ban in Texas. The ban, also known as Senate bill 8, came into effect in September 2021, with medical emergencies as the only exception to the law. The lawsuit was filed on Monday, aiming to get an injunction citing “uncertainty” in the language of the law.

“As the President and I have long made clear: Taking away the right of women to make their own reproductive health care decisions endangers women’s health, with potentially life-saving consequences,” said Harris in the statement, also ripping into elected officials that continue to espouse extremist views towards the issue, which entered the forefront since the Supreme Court struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling last year.

“Many extremist ‘so-called’ leaders espouse ‘freedom for all’; while directly attacking the freedom to make one’s own health care decisions. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, the President and I believe women – in consultation with their doctors – should be in charge of their reproductive health care, not politicians,” said Harris.

The lawsuit said the exception was not clearly defined and may cause of risk “irreparable injury” to pregnant women who are unable to get life-saving care. Texas is one of the 13 Republican-led states to have near-total abortion bans.

Wednesday last week, Harris cast the second-tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm another one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees, Margaret Guzman. Guzman became the first Hispanic federal judge in Massachusetts. The Senate voted 49-48 in favor of Guzman, who is a state court judge in Worcester and former public defender, as well as the 109th confirmed judicial nominee under Biden.

The vote came a day after Harris cast a tie-breaking vote, breaking the 48-48 deadlock to Oakland civil rights attorney Araceli Martinez-Olguin, who was confirmed to become a federal judge in the northern district of California.