Kamala Harris Is 'Kind Of Done' With States Restricting Abortion

By Aliza Worthington — May 30, 2019

At Tuesday night's Town Hall with Senator Kamala Harris, Lawrence O'Donnell started off the evening by asking her about the news that won't stop coming: the seemingly inevitable march towards overturning Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court. This was before Louisiana passed the law on Wednesday that bans abortion at 6 weeks, and seems destined to be signed into law by a DEMOCRATIC governor, the Flying Spaghetti Monster help us all. So she was reacting to the previous two weeks' news of legislation being passed in Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, etc, which basically make it illegal to have an abortion the moment a man asks you on a date.

I'm just kidding, a man can't impregnate a woman by asking her on a date! But as much as these yokels who are making the laws know about a woman's reproductive system, they probably think that.

Anywho, right out of the gate, Senator Harris gave a spirited and cogent answer about how she would handle states with a history of having passed restrictive abortion and women's reproductive health laws in the past:

SENATOR HARRIS: Lawrence, look, I think it's very clear that -- and it has not changed that women's ability to have access to reproductive health is under attack in America. It's under attack. And what we have seen from Alabama to Georgia, you can go just a variety of states, legislatures, state legislatures are fundamentally attacking a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. And let's understand what this means. Are we going to go back to the days of back alley abortions? Women died before we had Roe v. Wade in place. And so I'm going to tell you, on this issue, I'm kind of done because here's how I feel about it, guys -- [ applause ] let me tell you. Here's the thing. There are states that keep passing these laws. So when elected, I'm going to put in place and require that states that have a history of passing legislation that is designed to prevent or limit a woman's access to reproductive health care, that those laws have to come before my Department of Justice for a review and approval and until we determine that they are Constitutional they will not take effect. [ applause ]

O'DONNELL: How -- that sounds like it needs 60 votes in the United States Senate.

HARRIS: You know what? Everything that we need to do is going to require 60 votes in the United States Senate, which is why I would say to everybody, 2020 is about the White House, it's also about the United States Senate.

We are ALL kind of done with this fight, Senator Harris. Except we aren't. Conservative forced-birthers hold the majority on the Supreme Court, and the Koch-funded Extreme Christian Right Wing Nut Jobs have their anti-choice laws all ready to go in as many state legislatures as will take them up. They are just panting for this to reach the Supreme Court.

So not only will Senator Harris need to implement this exceedingly wise plan if she is elected President in 2020 — she'll need to consider packing the Supreme Court, as well. She's right about another thing. 2020 is not just about the White House. It's about the Senate. Get thee to the polls.