ICYMI: Vice President Harris Convened Meeting with Health Care Providers on Reproductive Rights

The Vice President emphasized the Administration will continue to work with Members of Congress, state advocates and legislators, stakeholders, and those on the frontlines of the fight to protect reproductive health care

Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris virtually met with doctors and nurses on the frontlines about the impact that overturning Roe v. Wade would have on women's health care. During the conversation, the Vice President was joined in person at the White House by advocates who are fighting to protect abortion and reproductive care.

The Vice President and the participants spoke about how rolling back reproductive rights will not only impact states with existing abortion restrictions and trigger laws – it will impact Americans all over the country. The Vice President also raised that the Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill that would effectively ban abortions from the moment of fertilization, calling the bill "outrageous."

Read more below:

CNN: VP Kamala Harris says overturning Roe V. Wade would be 'an extreme step backwards'
[Sam Fossum, 5/19/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that the Supreme Court's draft majority opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is part of a "war" on women's rights, as Republican-led legislatures across the nation pass increasingly restrictive measures on abortion access.

"The strength of our country has always been that we fight to move forward, that we believe in the expansion of rights not the restriction of rights," Harris said in remarks ahead of a virtual meeting with abortion providers at the White House on Thursday. […]

"The right to privacy that forms the basis of Roe is the same right to privacy that protects the right to use contraception and the right to marry the person you love, including a person of the same sex. Overturning Roe opens the door to restricting those rights," Harris said.

LA Times: Harris says overturning Roe vs. Wade could threaten other rights, including gay marriage
[Erin Logan, 5/19/22]

[…] Overturning the landmark case "would be a direct assault on the fundamental rights to self-determination: to live and love without interference from the government," Harris said, adding that the decision "is about our future as a nation. About whether we live in a country where the government can interfere in personal decisions."

Harris said that if the Supreme Court determines that access to abortion is no longer guaranteed, it would be the first time in at least five decades Americans would have a right taken away.

"The strength of our country has always been that we fight to move forward that we believe in expansion of rights, not the restriction of rights," Harris said during a virtual meeting with doctors who practice reproductive health in Oklahoma, Texas, California, Kansas and Missouri. "So this, when and it if it happens, will be an extreme step backward."

AP: Harris to Meet With Abortion Providers as Court Ruling Looms
[Chris Megerian, 5/19/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris, embracing her role as one of the administration's most outspoken defenders of abortion rights, spoke Thursday with abortion providers from states with some of the country's strictest restrictions, saying they are "on the front lines of this war on women's rights."

The virtual conversation, which Harris hosted from the White House complex, came weeks after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion suggesting that justices are on the brink of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

The Hill: Harris meets with abortion providers, condemns 'outrageous' Oklahoma law
[Brett Samuels, 5/19/22]

Vice President Harris on Thursday spoke with a group of abortion providers who she said are serving "on the front lines" of a "war on women's rights." […]

"We cannot deny that this decision will have real and immediate effects on women around our country," Harris said. "So, I am here today, joined by doctors, nurses and leading advocates, who are on the front lines against this war on women's rights."

Harris noted that her remarks came less than an hour after legislators in Oklahoma approved a bill that would effectively outlaw all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person, or if the pregnancy is the result of a rape that was reported to authorities. Harris called the Oklahoma law "outrageous, and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country. Several of the medical professionals joining us today are seeing the impact of these laws that are designed to punish and control women."

Washington Post: Oklahoma lawmakers pass bill banning abortions after 'fertilization'
[Amy Wang, Felicia Sonmez and Caroline Kitchener, 5/19/22]

The vote came around the time Vice President Harris was holding a virtual meeting Thursday afternoon with abortion providers about reproductive rights. Harris condemned the Oklahoma ban, calling it "one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country — a ban that would outlaw abortion from the moment of fertilization."

"Now, think about that for a second: from the moment of fertilization," Harris said. "It's outrageous, and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country."

NPR: Oklahoma's legislature passes a bill banning nearly all abortions
[Rina Torchinsky, 5/19/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris called it "one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country."

"It's outrageous and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country," Harris said in a virtual meeting with abortion providers.

HuffPost: Kamala Harris Calls Oklahoma's New Draconian Abortion Ban 'Outrageous'
[Sanjana Karanth, 5/19/22]

[…] The vice president gave opening remarks before a virtual discussion with providers and reproductive rights advocates, in which she brought up the Texas-style abortion ban that was just given final approval by the Oklahoma state legislature. The bill would prohibit all abortions from the moment of fertilization and would deputize private citizens in suing providers. […]

"At its core, this is about our future as a nation, about whether we live in a country where the government can interfere in personal decisions. This is about our future," Harris said. "Yet at the same time, we cannot deny that this decision will have real and immediate effects on women around our country."

The Root: VP Harris Expresses Outrage at Restrictive Oklahoma Abortion Bill
[Angela Johnson, 5/20/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris is not here for the restrictive abortion laws several states around the country are trying to put in place. And she recently voiced her concern for one of the newest and most restrictive pieces of legislation coming out of Oklahoma, calling it "outrageous."

On May 19, the vice president had a virtual meeting with abortion providers and other medical professionals from around the country. Those on the front lines in states where access to safe, legal abortion is at risk, including Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, shared their experiences on the call.

VP Harris sees the legislation as extreme and a way for states to subjugate women. "Now, think about that for a second: from the moment of fertilization," Harris said on her call. "It's outrageous, and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country. Several of the medical professionals joining us today are seeing the impact of these laws that are designed to punish and control women."

Yahoo News: Vice President Kamala Harris condemns Oklahoma passing an abortion ban from the moment of fertilization
[Staff, 5/19/22]

[…] Harris is an advocate of defending women's abortion rights. Just hours before she began her virtual meet, Oklahoma passed one of the strictest abortion bans that would outlaw abortion from the moment of fertilization.

While speaking at a virtual conference with abortion providers from states imposing some of the strictest abortion rules, Harris asserted the importance of the Roe v Wade decision and the right to privacy.

She claimed that Roe v Wade upheld the same rights that a person has on whether to use contraception and the right to marry the person one loves including a person of the same sex. She asserted that overturning Roe v Wade would eventually lead to restricting those rights.

New York Post: Kamala Harris slams 'outrageous' Oklahoma abortion law in meeting with providers
[Steven Nelson, 5/19/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris condemned a new Oklahoma law that aims to ban most abortions from the moment of conception Thursday, telling a group of abortion providers that the legislation is "outrageous."

"I am here today joined by doctors, nurses and leading advocates who are on the frontlines against this war on women's rights," Harris said during a virtual meeting with a nurse from Montana and doctors who perform abortions in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

"Just half an hour ago in Oklahoma, the state legislature passed one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country — a ban that would outlaw abortion from the moment of fertilization," she said. "Now think about that for a second, from the moment of fertilization. It's outrageous and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country."

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma lawmakers pass nation's most restrictive abortion law
[Carmen Forman, 5/19/22]

In a meeting with abortion providers at the White House on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the legislation.

"In Oklahoma, the state legislature passed one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country: a ban that would outlaw abortion from the moment of fertilization," Harris said.

"It's outrageous, and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country."

FOX News: Abortion providers to meet with Kamala Harris virtually at the White House
[Tyler O'Neil, 5/19/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet virtually with abortion providers at the White House on Thursday morning, as the Supreme Court considers a key abortion case after an opinion overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) leaked earlier this month. […]

Harris, a longtime advocate of abortion rights, previously met with abortion providers in Sept. 2021 to discuss the impact of Texas' S.B. 8. As California attorney general, she signed onto multiple amicus briefs to defend abortion access.

The vice president reacted strongly when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that Justice Samuel Alito's draft opinion in the Dobbs case striking down Roe was genuine. Although the draft dates back to February, and it does not represent the current or final opinion of the Court, Harris declared that "the rights of all Americans are at risk."

Independent: Kamala Harris criticizes 'outrageous' Oklahoma abortion ban
[Holly Patrick, 5/19/22]

Kamala Harris has slammed Oklahoma's proposed near-total ban on abortion, which was given final approval by the state's Republican-dominated legislature on Thursday (19 May).

The proposed ban would outlaw abortion from the "moment of fertilisation" and only allowed in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency.

"[The law] is designed to punish and control women... the power a woman has to make decisions about her own body I believe is directly connected to her power to make decisions about her future," Harris said.

CBS News: Vice President Kamala Harris to meet with Abortion providers
[Ed O'keefe, 5/19/22]

The Biden administration has vowed to fight for a woman's constitutional right to abortion. On Thursday at the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris will hear directly from doctors and nurses on the frontlines. Ed O'Keefe reports.