Statement from Vice President Harris on Lawsuit on Behalf of Texans Harmed by the State’s Abortion Bans

As the President and I have long made clear: taking away the right of women to make their own reproductive health care decisions endangers women’s health, with potentially life-threatening consequences. When I convened health care providers at the White House in September 2021 in wake of Texas SB 8, we discussed the harm that doctors and nurses feared their patients would experience as a result of Texas’ extreme laws. Now, multiple women impacted by these abortion bans announced a joint lawsuit against the state of Texas, showing those fears have turned into reality.
 
The lawsuit includes devastating, first-hand accounts of women’s lives almost lost after they were denied the health care they needed, because of extreme efforts by Republican officials to control women’s bodies. I am grateful to have met with one of the plaintiffs, Amanda Zurawski, who continues to courageously share her story. After Amanda’s water broke prematurely, she was repeatedly denied treatment because of Texas’s abortion ban. Only after she developed sepsis, an infection that almost killed her, did the hospital finally treat her. 
 
Many extremist “so-called” leaders espouse “freedom for all,” while directly attacking the freedom to make one’s own health care decisions. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, the President and I believe women – in consultation with their doctors – should be in charge of their reproductive health care, not politicians.