From Roe v Wade to national ban: Trump-Harris spar over abortion rights in US

In the 90-minute US Presidential debate, abortion, one of the main issues in America, became a central topic of discussion between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

During the face-off, Republican presidential nominee Trump and Democratic candidate Harris were asked about abortion and reproductive rights, which has been a key issue in the 2024 campaign.

‘Trump will implement national abortion ban’  

Harris warned that if Trump is re-elected, he will implement a national abortion ban. “His Project 2025 includes such a ban,” she said.

She further vowed to sign legislation restoring the overturned precedent, “if Congress approves it."  

“I pledge to you when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v Wade, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” Harris said.

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Harris further emphasised that reproductive rights are crucial, stating, “The American people believe that certain freedoms, like deciding what happens to one’s own body, should not be decided by the government.”

Trump says ’not signing abortion ban’

Trump, meanwhile, said: “I am not signing a ban,” as he emphasised that he does not believe a nationwide prohibition on abortion is necessary.

The former US president expressed his views on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the constitutional right to abortion. He said that it has rightly brought the issue back to the states to regulate it.

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According to Trump, the ruling correctly returned the authority to regulate abortion to individual states.

Trump also mentioned as to how various states have handled the issue, and claimed that in some states, “babies are killed after they are born."  

“Each individual state is voting. It’s the vote of the people. Now, it’s not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it, and the supreme court had great courage in doing it, and I give tremendous credit to those six justices."

The former US president, however, misstated the number, not six, but five voted to do away with the precedent.

Trump went on to falsely argue that most legal scholars wanted abortions to be regulated at the state level.

‘Trump should not be telling woman…’

Harris soon responded saying that Trump “should not be telling a woman what to do with her body”.

She further explained her support for reinstating Roe v Wade and said, “Now, in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans, which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care. In one state, it provides prison for life. Trump abortion bans that make no exception, even for rape and incest, which, understand what that means, a survivor of a crime of violation to their body does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body."

“Next, that is immoral, and one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body."

Harris

Kamala accuses Trump of ’lies’

Harris criticized Trump for his position on reproductive rights and claimed that he misled the public about his efforts to remove federal abortion protections.

Harris again stressed upon Trump’s policies being detrimental to women across the nation.

“You’ll hear a lot of lies,” Harris warned, as she went on to accuse Trump of strategically appointing three Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade protections, asserting that these justices fulfilled his agenda as intended.

With inputs from agencies.