'Biggest aftershocks yet.' Kamala Harris blasts Trump over Arizona's near-total abortion ban

Vice President Kamala Harris blasted Donald Trump in a visit Friday to Arizona in the wake of the state Supreme Court reinstating an 1864 abortion ban, arguing the former president was responsible for what she said was a "full-on" attack on reproductive rights.

"We all must understand who is to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this," Harris said Friday, speaking in Tucson, Arizona to room of about 100 supporters at a campaign event for President Joe Biden. "Donald Trump is the architect of this health care crisis."

Harris' visit came just days after the Arizona Supreme Court, in a 4-2 decision Tuesday, upheld a ban on nearly all abortions that predated Arizona's statehood, with the court's majority arguing that the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which left no constitutional right to an abortion, made the 160-year-old law enforceable.

"The overturning of Roe was without any question a seismic event, and this ban here in Arizona is one of the biggest aftershocks yet," Harris said, calling Arizona's abortion ban "a new inflection point."

"It has demonstrated, once and for all, that overturning Roe was just the opening act of a larger strategy to take women's rights and freedoms, part of a full-on attack, state by state, on reproductive freedom."

The Biden campaign has worked aggressively to remind voters that Trump's three Supreme Court appointments were instrumental in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in June 2022 that removed the Roe protections. Arizona is a critical battleground state in the 2024 election that Biden narrowly carried over Trump in 2020.

Minutes before Harris' remarks, Trump − the presumptive Republican nominee − told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida that a national ban on abortion isn't needed any longer because "we broke Roe v. Wade," which he said gave final say to the states. Trump, who has sought to distance himself from the Arizona ruling, said "the states are working very brilliantly" and that it's "working the way it's supposed to."

Harris, the Biden administration's leading voice on its push to restore reproductive rights, seized on Trump's remarks.

"As much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse," Harris said, arguing that Trump is "gaslighting" when he says he doesn't want a national abortion ban. "We all know if Donald Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban. And how do we know? Just look at his record."

Enforcement of Arizona's ban could mean the end of legal abortions in the state. The law mandates two to five years in prison for anyone aiding an abortion, except if the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother.

After the ruling, some providers said they will continue offering abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy at least for a time − likely through May − because of an existing court ruling in another case.

Arizona voters could get the final say on the state's abortion law. Abortion rights advocates have collected more than 500,000 signatures, well above the threshold of 383,923 signatures, to put a measure on the November ballot to protect abortion access into the Arizona Constitution.

An abortion referendum in Arizona would be a massive boost for the Biden campaign, which has sought to make restoring abortion rights a defining issue in the 2024 campaign. Abortion has been a winner for Democrats in several state referendums since Roe's collapse and is widely credited with energizing Democrats in the 2022 midterms to help the party exceed expectations.

"Here's what a second Trump term looks like. More bans, more suffering and less freedom," Harris said. "Just like he did in Arizona, he basically wants to take America back to the 1800s. But we are not going to let that happen."

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris: Trump to blame for return of Arizona's 1864 abortion law