Kamala Harris stated on Thursday that Donald Trump’s remark claiming he would safeguard women “whether the women like it or not” illustrates a lack of understanding regarding women’s autonomy and their rights. According to her, this comment undermines the vital aspects of women’s decision-making processes about their own lives and bodies.
Calling the statement offensive to everyone, Harris made her remarks while preparing for a day of campaign efforts in the Western swing states, including Arizona and Nevada. Trump has, in the past, appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who contributed to the conservative majority that annulled federal protections for abortion rights. In light of the continued repercussions from the 2022 ruling, Trump has been expressing publicly, through rallies and social media, his commitment to “protect women” and ensure they are not preoccupied with the issue of abortion.
During a rally on Wednesday evening close to Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump recounted that his advisers had recommended he refrain from using that particular phrase, labeling it as “inappropriate.” He responded to his supporters by asserting, “I told them, ‘I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I am going to protect them.’”
Harris indicated that this comment is just one instance in a broader pattern of troubling remarks made by the former president about women and their rights. She pointed out that it reveals how Trump perceives women and their autonomy. The conversation about abortion rights has proven challenging for Trump and the Republican Party, especially as women across the country find themselves facing increasingly stringent abortion restrictions.
Trump’s positions on this contentious issue have appeared inconsistent, as he has oscillated between suggesting that women should face penalties for undergoing abortions and boasting about his role in appointing the conservative justices. In his campaign for the presidency in 2016, he assured voters of his intention to select justices who would dismantle Roe v. Wade, while proudly identifying himself as “pro-life.” Nevertheless, in more recent weeks, he has expressed intentions to veto a national abortion ban, a departure from his earlier stance of remaining noncommittal on such a pledge, stating that regulation of abortion care should be left to the states, deeming some legislation “too harsh.”