The U.S. Vice President and likely Democratic Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris, has sharply criticized former President Donald Trump regarding abortion rights, following the implementation of a strict six-week abortion law in Iowa. In a social media post, Harris referred to Iowa’s legislation as “another Trump abortion law,” stating, “In November, we will stop Trump’s extreme abortion ban at the ballot box.”
Trump, the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, has boasted about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the legal precedent that secured abortion rights in the United States for decades, which was reversed by the Supreme Court in 2022. This decision, supported by a conservative majority of 6-3 in the Supreme Court, including several Trump appointees, has left the question of abortion access in the hands of individual states.
Iowa’s stringent abortion law, which took effect on Monday, bans most abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, often before many women are even aware they are pregnant. Currently, four U.S. states have similar six-week abortion bans, and 14 states have near-total prohibitions at all stages of pregnancy.
Reproductive rights remain a key issue as the presidential election approaches in November, where Trump is expected to face Harris, following Democratic President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race earlier this month. Biden had made defending access to reproductive healthcare a central part of his re-election campaign, and the Democrats continue to convey this message by condemning Trump and Republican lawmakers for supporting the end of Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, the Democrats have focused on remarks made by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, regarding abortion, as a means to portray the Republican side as a threat to reproductive rights in the U.S. In 2022, Vance suggested a “federal response” for individuals who traveled out of their home states to obtain abortions. He also described the passage of a measure guaranteeing access to abortion in Ohio as a “gut punch.”
However, like Trump, Vance has stated that the issue should be left to individual states. Amid calls from anti-abortion activists and hardline conservatives for a national abortion ban, Trump stated in April that “states will decide it by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide should be the law of the land.” He added in a social media video, “Many states will be different,” emphasizing, “In the end, this is all about the will of the people.”
While conservatives have spent decades attempting to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion has become a liability for the Republican Party, as polls indicate that abortion bans and restrictions are unpopular, with most Americans favoring the protection of access to the procedure. The Pew Research Center reported in April 2023 that 62 percent of Americans believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to 36 percent who said it should be illegal.
In Iowa, abortion was previously legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. However, last July, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature enacted a new ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. There are limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality, or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Iowa’s Supreme Court affirmed last month that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state and ordered that a pause on the new law be lifted. The judges set July 29 as the first day for enforcement.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called it a “historic day for Iowa.” However, Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, stated that the ban “will impact Iowans for generations to come.” Sarah Traxler, an obstetrician/gynecologist based in neighboring Minnesota and the chief medical officer at the same Planned Parenthood affiliate, also mentioned that Iowa’s law could have ripple effects throughout the region. “When Roe v. Wade was overturned, many of the patients traveling to Iowa came from Missouri,” Traxler said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio. “This will have far-reaching consequences for the region, particularly the Midwest and South.”