--- title: Kamala Harris to Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban description: Vice President Kamala Harris will explicitly blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s recently upheld near-total abortion ban in a speech on Friday. canonical: https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-04-12T15:59:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:41:34.696Z article:section: Politics og:title: Kamala Harris to Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban og:description: In a speech in Ariz., Harris will frame Arizona’s abortion ban as a direct consequence of Trump-era policies and rhetoric. og:url: https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4151040e906c87/698a55a8096a9464e46b0684/GettyImages-2084491286.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Planned Parenthood, St. Paul, Minn. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kamala Harris to Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban twitter:description: In a speech in Ariz., Harris will frame Arizona’s abortion ban as a direct consequence of Trump-era policies and rhetoric. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4151040e906c87/698a55a8096a9464e46b0684/GettyImages-2084491286.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kamala Harris Will Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=51154f98-a12e-429d-b6dd-6680f676d5bf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What to Know About the Arizona Supreme Court Abortion Ban Ruling [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About the Arizona Supreme Court Abortion Ban Ruling](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SnxVRxV2.m3u8) (2:46)  _Published 2024-04-10. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban on Tuesday that would prohibit nearly all abortions in the state except when “necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Apr 12, 2024 3:59 PM UTC The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban on Tuesday that would prohibit nearly all abortions in the state except when “necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Apr 12, 2024 3:59 PM UTC Vice President Kamala Harris will explicitly blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s recently upheld [near-total abortion ban](https://time.com/6965338/arizona-supreme-court-abortion-ban/) in a speech on Friday, blasting the former President on an issue that is expected to dominate the state’s elections this fall. In her remarks in Tucson, Harris will condemn what she perceives as an assault on women's rights and frame Arizona’s abortion ban as a direct consequence of Trump-era policies and rhetoric, according to excerpts of her speech released by the Biden campaign. "Here’s what a second Trump term looks like: more bans, more suffering, less freedom," she will say. "But we are not going to let that happen." Harris’ trip to Arizona comes just four days after the state supreme court decided to bring back a 160-year-old near total ban on abortion, thrusting the critical swing state into the forefront of the battle for reproductive rights in an election year. Political strategists in both parties [told TIME](https://time.com/6965602/arizona-abortion-ban-politics-2024/) that the ruling will likely sway even moderate Republicans towards the Democratic camp, while also energizing young voters. The Biden campaign has used the ruling to intensify its efforts to attack Republicans and blame Trump, who regularly takes credit for appointing the three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped [overturn _Roe v. Wade_](https://time.com/6189476/abortion-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade/)nearly two years ago. In her speech, Harris plans to paint Trump as “the architect of this health care crisis” and point to his previous comments about how women who seek abortions should be punished, the excerpts say, marking one of her most direct assaults on Trump's stance on abortion to date. **Read More:** [_After Abortion Ban, Arizona Just Became the Most Important State in 2024 Politics_](https://time.com/6965602/arizona-abortion-ban-politics-2024/) Harris has in recent months become increasingly vocal about the Biden Administration’s support for protecting reproductive rights and combating the erosion of women's health care access across the nation, signaling how abortion has become a pivotal issue in the upcoming presidential election. Her trip to Arizona follows a series of nationwide engagements centered on reproductive rights, including stops in swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia. The fight over reproductive rights has in recent years become one of the most potent issues in motivating Democrats to vote—and polls show that abortion could similarly motivate Arizona voters this fall. A [March Fox News poll](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/03/Fox%5FMarch-7-11-2024%5FArizona-GE%5FCross-Tabs%5FMarch-13-Release.pdf) from before the state Supreme Court’s ruling found that 39% of Arizona voters said abortion would be extremely important in deciding their vote for president, and 32% said it would be very important. In an [October New York Times-Siena College poll](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/07/us/elections/times-siena-arizona.html) from last year, 59% of Arizona registered voters said abortion should be mostly or always legal; 34% said it should be mostly or always illegal. The ruling this week is likely to make the issue even more significant to voters in the state. Trump’s stance [on abortion bans has shifted](https://time.com/6965211/donald-trump-abortion-religious-conservatives-politics/) ahead of the 2024 election. He said on Wednesday that the Arizona supreme court went too far in its ruling, and earlier [declined to endorse a federal abortion ban](https://time.com/6964678/donald-trump-abortion-ban-states/), instead saying on Monday that decisions regarding abortion should be left to individual states. As President, he backed a 20-week federal abortion ban, which never passed Congress. Arizona, a key swing state that helped secure the presidency for Joe Biden in 2020 after voting for Trump in 2016, will have a critical role to play in both the presidential election in November and in a Senate race that will help determine the balance of power in Congress. Voters will not only weigh in on abortion as they vote for candidates, but also likely by casting votes on a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion in the Arizona constitution. “This abortion initiative is going to drive a lot of young voters to the polls,” says Barrett Marson, an Arizona-based Republican strategist. “The Biden campaign \[is\]… going to have to say, look, come for the abortion initiative, stay for us. They’ve got to make sure voters don't just vote on abortion and then go home.” A campaign official said the Biden campaign plans to ramp up its abortion messaging in Arizona ahead of the election, unveiling a seven-figure investment ahead of Harris’s visit that includes advertising initiatives aimed at bolstering support for abortion rights. ## Transcript [00:00] So I want to start by addressing some devastating and alarming [00:03] news from the Arizona Supreme Court with today's decision [00:07] millions of arizonans will soon face an even more extreme [00:12] and dangerous abortion ban than they did before this Arizona [00:17] law which was initially enacted in 1860 for more than 150 years [00:22] ago fails to protect women, even when their health is at risk [00:27] or in horrific cases of rape or incest. [00:30] There are now 21 extreme State abortion ban in effect across [00:36] the country one. [00:37] Third of all women of reproductive age now live in a state [00:40] with an abortion man and all of these bands including the one [00:44] of hell today. [00:45] That was upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court are a direct [00:50] result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, [00:53] when the president's predecessor handicapped 3 Supreme Court [00:58] Justices to overturn Roe. [01:00] Wade it paved the way for the chaos and confusion. [01:03] We're seeing play out across the country today. [01:06] It is a dark Day in Arizona. [01:10] Just now at the Arizona Supreme Court issued its opinion [01:13] and plant hurt Parenthood B Maze of holding one of the most [01:18] extreme abortion bans in the country and how it is currently [01:23] stayed. We continue to live under an unacceptable ban a lot that [01:28] still strips arizonans of their personal autonomy and has no exceptions [01:32] for women who are the victims of rape or incest or any regard [01:36] for pregnancy complications. [01:39] Let me be clear Arizona's 2022 abortion ban is Extreme and hurts [01:44] women and the near-total Civil War era band that continues [01:49] to hang over. [01:50] Our heads only serves to create more chaos for women and doctors [01:55] in our state. [01:57] As Governor I promised I would do everything in my power to protect [02:00] our reproductive freedoms my executive order removing the ability [02:05] of County attorneys to prosecute women and doctors performing [02:09] abortions remains. We are 14 days away from this extreme [02:15] band coming back to life. [02:16] It must be repealed immediately final this November arizonans [02:23] may have an opportunity to make their voices heard on this important [02:26] issue to the people across Arizona who are concerned about [02:31] the future of abortion rights in our state who are worried about [02:34] their bodily autonomy who don't want to see the freedom [02:38] of their wives sisters and daughters restricted. [02:41] You can make your concerns known at The Ballot Box and I encourage [02:44] you to do so ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/"},"headline":"Kamala Harris Will Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban","datePublished":"2024-04-12T15:59:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:41:34.696Z","description":"In a speech in Ariz., Harris will frame Arizona’s abortion ban as a direct consequence of Trump-era policies and rhetoric.","url":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/","keywords":["abortion","News","Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4151040e906c87/698a55a8096a9464e46b0684/GettyImages-2084491286.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a4151040e906c87/698a55a8096a9464e46b0684/GettyImages-2084491286.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vice President Kamala Harris visits Planned Parenthood, St. Paul, Minn.","caption":"Vice President Kamala Harris visits Planned Parenthood, St. Paul, Minn.","creditText":"Glen Stubbe—Star Tribune/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/abortion/","name":"abortion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/","name":"Kamala Harris Will Blame Donald Trump for Arizona’s Abortion Ban"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About the Arizona Supreme Court Abortion Ban Ruling","description":"The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban on Tuesday that would prohibit nearly all abortions in the state except when “necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SnxVRxV2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-04-10T14:12:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SnxVRxV2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/","duration":"PT2M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6966390/kamala-harris-blame-donald-trump-abortion-arizona/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```