The long-awaited presidential debate between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump happened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, today after many weeks and months of speculation over whether Trump would in fact turn up. The issue of women’s reproductive rights in America, specifically abortion, is one of the most divisive of the 2024 Election campaign for both sides, and neither candidate shirked the topic. Here’s what you need to know, and who-said-what….
Harris supports reinstating Roe v. Wade
In 2022, the United States Supreme Court (made up of three new judges that were appointed by former president Donald Trump) voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which, for almost 50 years, protected a woman’s right to seek abortion in the States.
Within 48 hours of announcing her run for presidency earlier this year, Kamala Harris was talking about reinstating the constitutional right.
On her campaign trail, she became the highest-ranking government official in history to visit an abortion clinic, and described the overturning of Roe v Wade as a “healthcare crisis”.
“Now, in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans, which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide healthcare. In one state, it provides prison for life. Trump abortion bans that make no exception, even for rape and incest, which, understand what that means: a survivor of a crime of violation to their body does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next,” she said in the debate.
“I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.”
Trump stands by the overturning of Roe v. Wade
When Harris made abortion a key talking point of her campaign, Trump began to flip-flop on his views, softening them in order to not risk losing his staunch anti-abortion following but also gain voters who might be on the fence and otherwise vote for Harris.
Debate moderator Linsey Davis mentioned to Trump that last year he declared he was proud to be “the most pro-life president in American history”, but that last month, he said his presidency would be “great for women and their reproductive rights”.
At one point, he said that a six-week ban in his home state of Florida was too short and that he’d be voting for more than that, and then he changed his views again the next day when he said he would support the six-week ban.
When Davis pressed the convicted criminal and former reality TV show host to answer “Why should women trust you?” he praised the members of the Supreme Court for reversing Roe v. Wade, and even thanked them for their “genius”, “heart” and “courage” in doing so.
The decision to overturn the constitutional right saw women’s reproductive freedom given to state governments — some of which have banned abortion completely.
Different laws in different states means many women who are seeking an abortion have to cross state lines to receive medical care. Many of those women can’t afford to travel, can’t take time off work, can’t get people to mind their children.
Now that abortion laws are a state decision, Trump said, “It’s the vote of the people. Now, it’s not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it, and the supreme court had great courage in doing it, and I give tremendous credit to those six justices.”
Harris’ most powerful moment of the debate
She hit back at Trump’s claims that reconsidering the protections of Roe v. Wade was what “every” person wanted, saying: “You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that … A 12- or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term? They don’t want that.”
Trump still doesn’t know how pregnancy and abortion works
One of the most surreal moments of the debate came when Trump ranted about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating people’s pets. Just as surreal but something we’ve all heard before was his claim that Democrats are killing newborn babies.
“Her vice president pick [the Minnesota governor, former public school teacher, National Guardsman and member of Congress Tim Walz] says, ‘Abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth – it’s execution, no longer abortion because the baby is born – is okay. And that’s not okay with me, hence the vote [against abortion],” said Trump.
He also turned to one of his familiar tropes that women are getting abortions in the ninth month of their pregnancy. While late-term abortions do happen, they are incredibly rare. Less than one per cent of abortions are performed in the third trimester, and when they are, it’s due to a medical emergency or because the foetus has stopped developing.
Harris says, of all people, Trump should not be telling women what to do with their bodies
In 2023, Trump was found libel of sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carrol. Since the 1970s, the former president has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by more than two dozen women.
Even if he didn’t have such a sordid track record with women, Harris says decisions about women’s bodies and what they do or don’t do with them should not be up to Trump.
“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs [about abortion] to agree, the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.
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