Today, Vice President Kamala Harris held a roundtable with constitutional law, privacy, and technology experts to discuss what is at stake if Roe v. Wade is overruled. The roundtable followed recent meetings about reproductive rights that the Vice President held with faith leaders, and with health care providers, and is part of the Administration's work to build coalitions and preparedness in response to the attack on reproductive rights.
During the meeting, the Vice President said that the principles of liberty and self-determination are at stake in the Supreme Court's leaked opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The conversation highlighted the real-world limitations to liberty that the American people will experience if Roe v. Wade is overruled. The participants discussed constitutional law and the history and meaning of the right to privacy. The participants expressed concerns that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, states with abortion bans could potentially restrict in vitro fertilization if their definition of life begins at the point of fertilization. They raised the impact that overturning Roe could have on access to contraception and same-sex marriage. They also discussed implications on data privacy - including concerns that states that make abortion illegal may subpoena women's personal data.
The participants also discussed the maternal health care crisis, which disproportionately impacts Black women, rural women, and Native women - and they described the detrimental impact that overturning Roe v. Wade will have on women's health.
The Vice President raised the connection between restrictions on reproductive rights and limitations on other rights, noting that many of the states that have trigger ban laws where abortion will be banned if the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade are also the states that are passing laws to restrict voting rights and LGBTQ+ rights.
Vice President Harris called on the legal experts to use their voices to inform the American people about the potential consequences of the Court's decision. The Vice President affirmed that the Administration will continue to fight for the health, safety, and wellbeing of women.
Participants:
- Professor Peggy Cooper Davis of NYU School of Law
- Professor Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law
- Professor Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School
- Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin of UC Irvine School of Law
- Jennifer Weiss-Wolf of Brennan Center for Justice and Ms. Magazine
- Professor Leah Litman of University of Michigan Law School
- Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President Rohini Kosoglu
- White House Counsel Dana Remus
- Executive Director and Co-Chair of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein
