Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Donald Trump during an Atlanta rally on Saturday, focusing on his response to a Georgia family’s tragic loss due to abortion complications.
Harris centered her remarks on the case of Amber Thurman, a Georgia mother who died after complications from taking an abortion pill. Thurman’s tragic death occurred shortly after Georgia implemented its restrictive abortion law following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“Donald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused,” Harris stated. She referenced Trump’s recent comment on a Fox News Channel town hall about the Thurman family joining a media call: “We’ll get better ratings, I promise.”
Harris condemned Trump’s remark, asking, “A grieving family, a grieving family, sharing the memory of their daughter with our nation. Where is the compassion?” She added, “What we see continually from Donald Trump is exactly what that clip shows. He belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. It is cruel.”
Newsweek contacted Trump’s campaign via email on Saturday for comment.
The Vice President’s focus on reproductive rights aligns with the Democratic pledge to restore a national right to abortion if they win the White House and sufficient seats in Congress.
Thurman’s family previously thanked Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz for sharing her story during his debate with Republican nominee JD Vance.
In a statement provided to Newsweek through their attorney, Thurman’s family said that they “commend Governor Tim Walz for telling Amber’s story and for his unwavering commitment to defending women’s reproductive rights.”
The statement said: “Amber’s tragic death was a direct result of Georgia’s archaic and dangerously restrictive abortion laws, which denied her the life-saving care she so desperately needed.
“We strongly condemn the Republican platform that seeks to further restrict women’s access to necessary healthcare under the false guise of protection. We are grieving an unimaginable loss that no family should have to endure.
“We must continue to fight against laws that put women’s lives at risk, and we are grateful to leaders like Governor Walz who advocate for common sense laws while exhibiting such compassion.”
Harris attributed Thurman’s death to Georgia’s abortion restrictions, which came into effect after the Supreme Court decision involving three conservative Trump-appointed justices. In 2017, while he was in office, the House passed legislation to ban abortions in most cases. Trump urged the Senate to approve a 20-week ban bill, though it never passed.
However, he delivered on a key pro-life goal by nominating Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
During a recent Fox News interview, Trump reflected on the issue: “For 52 years, this issue has torn our country apart. Every legal scholar – the great ones – every lawyer, the Democrats, the Republicans, the liberals, the conservatives, they wanted it brought out of the federal government and into the states for the vote of the people.”
Post-Dobbs, the landscape of abortion access has changed dramatically. Fourteen Republican-controlled states now ban abortion at every stage of pregnancy, while most Democratic-led states have passed laws protecting abortion access.
Early voting is underway in Georgia, with over 1.2 million ballots already cast. Harris encouraged participation, noting that former President Jimmy Carter had voted by mail just after his 100th birthday.
Recent polling by doxoINSIGHTS indicates that abortion and reproductive rights are the top election issue for 23 percent of voters in swing states.
The survey also revealed that Georgia (29 percent) and North Carolina (27 percent) residents prioritize healthcare, while Nevada residents (20 percent) are most concerned about abortion and reproductive rights.
