Key events
The day so far
Democrats are on the attack as they mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, in which the supreme court’s conservative justices overturned the constitutional protections on abortion guaranteed by Roe v Wade. At a speech outside Washington DC, Kamala Harris said Donald Trump was “guilty” of “stealing” reproductive rights from American women with his appointment of three of the justices who supported doing away with the precedent. Joe Biden, who is three days away from his Thursday presidential debate with Trump, called his predecessor the “sole person responsible for this nightmare”. Meanwhile, neither Trump nor any top Republicans in Congress have said anything about the anniversary of the court’s decision.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
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The supreme court will hear a challenge brought by the Biden administration against state-level bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
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The fall of Roe upended life for aspiring doctors who hoped to provide abortions.
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A top White House official signaled that Biden supports an effort by Senate Democrats to repeal the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that a second Trump administration might use to ban abortion nationwide.
Lauren Gambino
Kate Cox, the Texas mother who was denied an abortion under the state’s near-total ban last year, introduced Kamala Harris at her speech in Maryland.
“Every minute that I stayed pregnant, the risk to my health and to a future pregnancy were growing,” Cox said.
“My state chose to drive me out of my home, my community, away from my children and my doctors, rather than to let me access care,” she said, adding: “I never imagined having to fight for something so basic as a procedure to save my health.”
As a young student and mother “just trying to stay afloat,” Cox said she didn’t always make time to vote.
“I will never again miss an opportunity to vote. I will cast my ballot in every election like my life depends on it,” Cox said.
Growing emotional, Cox then shared that she is pregnant again, expecting a child in January. The crowd erupted in applause, as many stood to cheer for her.
“And I hope that by then, when we welcome our baby into the world, we will have a world led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” she said.
She then welcomed Harris on to the stage as a “champion of the cause” for reproductive freedom.
“You are a hero of this movement,” Harris told Cox.
Lauren Gambino
Harris emphasized the importance of turning out to vote in November to protect abortion access so that places like Maryland remain havens for reproductive healthcare.
Pointing to the statistic that one-in-three American women live in a state with abortion restrictions, she said: “Today our daughters know fewer rights than their grandmothers. This is a healthcare crisis, and we all know who to blame: Donald Trump.”
Making her case that Trump was “guilty” of stripping abortion access, which was previewed by the campaign before her appearance, Harris said Trump appointed three supreme court justices with the intention of overturning Roe v Wade.
“It was premeditated,” Harris said from a stage, where a sign that said “Trust Women” hung behind her.
“Trump has not denied, much less shown remorse, for his actions,” she added.
Later this afternoon, Harris will go to battleground state Arizona for a second event marking the Dobbs anniversary.
Lauren Gambino
Harris took the stage to chants of “four more years.”
She then said Trump was “guilty” in “the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America”, and went on to lay out what she said are the stakes for abortion access if Trump is re-elected.
“Understand as much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term will be even worse,” she said. “His friends in the United States Congress are trying to pass a national ban that would outlaw abortion in every single state in states like New York and California, and even right here in Maryland.”
She called Republicans who have passed state-level bans Trump’s “accomplices”, and said voters shouldn’t be fooled by Trump’s wavering on abortion, but should focus on what he has said. And she warned that he would go even further, curtailing access to contraception and IVF.
“Enough with the gaslighting,” Harris says of Trump’s wavering stance on abortion.
— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) June 24, 2024
“If there were a second Trump term, he has admitted that he is ‘looking at restrictions on contraception,’” she said. “And pay close attention to how his friends in the United States Senate obstructed a bill to protect the right to contraception, not once, not twice, but three times.”
Lauren Gambino
Vice President Kamala Harris just took the stage to address a crowd at the University of Maryland, her first event of the day to mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision.
Maryland is a deep-blue state with an abortion referendum on the ballot and a surprisingly competitive Senate race that could help determine the balance of power in Congress. Ahead of Harris’s remarks, Maryland Democrats and reproductive rights leaders emphasized the stakes in November.
Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for the state’s open seat, said Trump was “proud as a peacock” for setting in motion the fall of Roe, and warned that Republicans saw the state as an opportunity to win back control of the chamber.
Speaking before Harris, she said of Republicans: “Make no mistake about it. They would take the first opportunity to ban abortion nationwide.”
Alsobrooks faces Larry Hogan, the state’s former two-term Republican governor, who, in a sign of the fast-shifting politics of abortion, has recast himself as “pro-choice” and said he supports the state’s abortion referendum.
Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, urged voters who want to protect access to abortion to send Alsobrooks with him to the Senate.
“Larry Hogan’s undergoing some election year conversion like none other I’ve ever seen,” the senator said, pointing to Hogan’s record as governor, when he vetoed a law that would have expanded abortion access.
“A vote for Larry Hogan is a vote to put the Maga Republicans in charge of the United States Senate.”
In November, Maryland voters will decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion and “reproductive freedom,” in the state’s constitution. It is widely expected to pass because of broad support for protecting abortion access, which is legal in the state.
Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, called it a “solemn anniversary” but said there was also reason to hope.
“We poured the pain that we felt into action,” she said. “Election after election, voters showed up motivated by that grief by that pain, but also by that anger and they sent Maga extremists packing.”
At rally marking Dobbs anniversary, Harris to say Trump ‘guilty’ of ‘stealing’ abortion rights
Kamala Harris is holding a rally in Washington DC’s Maryland suburbs to mark two years since the supreme court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned constitutional protections on abortion.
In excerpts of the speech shared by the White House, the vice-president will accuse Donald Trump of “stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America”.
“This is a health care crisis, and we know who is to blame: Donald Trump.
How do we know? Well, I’m a former prosecutor. So let’s look at the facts.
Donald Trump hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to overturn Roe. So it was premeditated,” Harris will say.
Here’s more:
Trump has not denied, much less shown remorse, for his actions. Instead, he proudly takes credit for overturning Roe.
In a court of law, that would be called an admission. Some would say, a confession.…
In the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty.
The end of Roe v Wade, and moves by Republican-controlled states to ban abortion, have made life particularly complicated for women on probation and parole, according to recently published research. From the Guardian’s Jessica Glenza:
The number of women on probation or parole who must seek permission to travel for an abortion more than doubled to 635,000 in two years since the supreme court overturned the federal right to abortion, a new report finds.
Fourteen states have near-total abortion bans and 21 restrict the procedure. Together with near ubiquitous travel restrictions imposed by probation and parole, more than half of women on probation or parole in the US must seek permission to travel before obtaining an abortion.
The policies are a “one-two punch” for women caught in the criminal justice system, the report’s author said.
“Doing the math I was shocked it was so many,” said Wendy Sawyer, research director at the Prison Policy Initiative, which published the new report.
The research came just ahead of today – the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, which the supreme court used to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022.
“An additional 400,000 women is a lot of additional women to be put in this very precarious situation,” she said.
Beyond its massive impact in American politics, the Guardian’s Carter Sherman reports that the fall of Roe v Wade upended the education of aspiring doctors who were looking to provide abortions:
The fall of Roe v Wade upended Dr Jasmine Chan’s career.
As a medical student, the Texas native wanted to provide abortions as an OB-GYN. But in 2022, as Chan prepared to apply for residency – a kind of years-long apprenticeship after medical school – she worried that the quirks of the residency placement process would keep her in Texas, which banned abortions after the US supreme court overturned Roe.
“I met with my advisers and I had very strong heart-to-heart conversations about how I couldn’t see myself practicing medicine if it didn’t include me getting to do abortions,” Chan said. Instead of becoming an OB-GYN, she decided to become a family medicine doctor – a less competitive specialty that increased her chances of finding a residency in a state that protects abortion access.
Now, two years into her residency program in New Jersey, Chan is preparing to finally get the training that she’s longed for her entire career. But, like many other doctors seeking abortion training after Roe’s demise, she will still have to overcome hurdles that didn’t exist just two years ago.
Trump, Republicans, don’t have much to say on Dobbs anniversary
Joe Biden and his allies have seized on the second anniversary of the supreme court’s Dobbs ruling to attack Donald Trump and his allies as threats to reproductive freedom. And, so far today, the GOP is not saying much back.
Trump’s feed on Truth Social is full of posts about his rally in Philadelphia this weekend, with not a peep about the overturning of Roe v Wade, or his role in it. Meanwhile, top Republican officials in Congress, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and speaker of the House Mike Johnson, have not commented either, nor has Lindsey Graham, who has introduced legislation to ban abortion nationwide. That could change in the course of the day.
However, veteran anti-abortion groups are marking the occasion, with warnings that a second Biden term could lead to the re-establishment of nationwide access to the procedure. Here’s Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America:
Will This Be Our Last #Dobbs Anniversary?
Every pro-life state could be stripped of its pro-life laws if Biden, Harris, and the Democrats win.
Give life a fighting chance. pic.twitter.com/Apw6w771GA
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) June 24, 2024
In the ongoing call with reporters marking the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the director of the White House’s gender policy council Jennifer Klein signaled that Joe Biden supports efforts in Congress to repeal the Comstock Act.
That is the obscenity law passed in 1873 that remains on the books, and which productive rights advocates fear could be used by a second Trump administration to ban abortion nationwide.
“We support all actions by Democrats in Congress to protect reproductive freedom, including this one, and the president has been quite clear that what we need, ultimately, is a federal law restoring the protections of Roe v Wade, which is the only way we can ensure that women in every state are going to be able to make the decisions that are right for them and their families, to stop the erosion of reproductive rights that we are seeing across the country, and to stop the other side from attempting to roll us back to the 1800s,” Klein said.
She also noted that though Biden’s justice department does not believe Comstock could be used to outlaw abortion by criminalizing the mailing and transportation of material used in the procedure, officials in a second Trump administration could reverse that:
Our department of justice has issued a binding opinion that Comstock is not a barrier to the shipment, the mailing, the transport, for lawful purposes, for lawful abortion. And so their view, the other side’s view, is draconian and inconsistent with longstanding interpretation of the Comstock Act by courts for decades … and they’ve been quite clear what a future administration could and would do. They would use Comstock to go after the mailing of abortion medication and even potentially other supplies used in abortion. And they’ve been quite clear that, you know, that’s why they don’t think they need to pass a national abortion ban … They’ve got a backdoor ban on the books.
Last week, Democratic senator Tina Smith introduced legislation to repeal the Comstock Act:
White House says GOP attacks on abortion, IVF ‘should never happen in America’
In a call with reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hit out Republicans for their efforts to ban abortion, and accused them of moving to curb access to in vitro fertilization treatment, and contraception.
“Two years ago today, the Supreme Court overturned a woman’s constitutional right to make deeply Personal health care decisions free from the interference of politicians. The aftermath has been devastating for women’s health and lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
She continued:
Already this year, Republican elected officials and states have filed more than 300 bills to restrict access to abortion care. And, on Capitol Hill, congressional Republicans have proposed three national abortion bans, and, despite having had every opportunity to protect reproductive freedom since the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe, Republican officials have blocked attempts led by Democratic elected officials and refused to do so.
Just earlier this month, Senate Republicans once again refused to protect access to IVF for women who are desperately trying to get pregnant, and Republicans in Congress blocked a bill that would protect a woman’s right to access contraception.
It’s extreme, it’s out of touch, and it’s wrong … This should never happen in America.
Supreme court to hear Biden administration challenge to state bans on gender-affirming care for minors
The supreme court has agreed to hear a challenge brought by the Biden administration against Republican-backed bans on gender-affirming care for minors, the Associated Press reports.
The case will be heard in the court’s forthcoming term, with arguments expected later this year. Conservatives hold a supermajority of seats on the high court, and the petition gives them the opportunity to issue a ruling that could green-light such bans nationwide.
Here’s more, from the AP:
The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.
The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restrict puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take effect after they had been blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)
“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.
Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal filing in support of Supreme Court review.
Arguments will take place in the fall.
Last week, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though such treatments have been available in the United States for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations.
Biden calls Trump ‘sole person responsible for this nightmare’ on anniversary of Dobbs decision
Joe Biden has marked the second anniversary of the supreme court’s Dobbs decision by issuing a statement reminding voters of Donald Trump’s involvement in the ruling, which gave state the green-light to ban abortion.
Since then, 14 states have implemented total abortion bans, and 27 others have banned the procedure after a certain number of weeks of gestation, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In his statement, Biden described the situation as a “nightmare” that can only be blamed on Trump:
Donald Trump is the sole person responsible for this nightmare. For him, these cruel state bans are a ‘beautiful thing to watch’ – and they’re just beginning. This is a man who brags about overturning Roe v. Wade, has called for women who access reproductive health care to be punished — and says he would rule as a dictator on day one. If given the chance, there is no question he will ban abortion nationwide, with or without the help of Congress. You don’t have to take my word for it – his advisors have already laid out the plans to do it.
Biden and Democrats pummel Trump on anniversary of supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today is the two-year anniversary of the supreme court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the 49-year-old precedent set in Roe v Wade and allowed states to ban abortion. Since then, abortion rights advocates have succeeded in getting voters to approve measures protecting access to the procedure in states as conservative as Kansas and Ohio, while Democratic candidates across the country have campaigned on reproductive rights to win office. Now, the party is looking to continue that momentum going into the November presidential election, with an eye towards focusing the ire of pro-abortion rights voters on Donald Trump – who appointed to the court three of the justices that supported the Dobbs decision.
“Two years ago today, Donald Trump’s supreme court majority ripped away the fundamental freedom for women to access the health care they need and deserve,” Joe Biden said in a statement released this morning to mark the occasion. While he remains ensconced at the Camp David presidential retreat ahead of Thursday’s debate with Trump, Kamala Harris will hold a campaign event today in Maryland, where she’ll no doubt address the issue.
Here’s what else is going on today:
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Trump continued his tactic of campaigning in inner cities over the weekend, holding his first rally in Philadelphia with a speech that focused on blaming undocumented migrants for crime, facts be damned.
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Same-sex marriage, which is protected by a supreme court ruling and also by a recently passed federal law, remains broadly popular, though its support is slipping among Republicans, Gallup finds in a new poll.
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Neither the House nor Senate are in session today, but the lower chamber will be back tomorrow, with its Republican majority focused on passing spending bills that will likely contain a number of rightwing demands to be used as bargaining chips with the Democrats.
