Kamala Harris slams Texas’s ‘immoral’ abortion ban during speech in Austin

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the Texas abortion ban during a question and answer session in Austin – but made no mention of the migrant crisis engulfing the Lone State State. vent in Austin, Texas, but did find time to call Texas’s abortion laws ‘immoral.’

Harris, 57, was speaking at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library when she branded Governor Greg Abbott’s almost near-ban on abortion as ‘immoral.’

‘The idea that there would be a policy and an approach that would say to someone who has survived an extreme act of violence and violation,’ she said.

Harris continued: ‘[That] you do not have the autonomy, the authority as it relates to your body that has just withstood that act to make a decision about what happens to your body next, is immoral.’

The former California Attorney General doubled down, saying: ‘It’s truly immoral. The government shouldn’t be making this decision for her. It is absolutely about freedom. It is about liberty.’

Vice President Kamala Harris pictured at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library on October 8

The entire conversation lasted around 40 minutes, during which time the issue of the southern border crisis did not come up. Here migrants are shown after crossing the Rio Bravo

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures show that as of August the total number of migrant encounters reached more than 2 million in Fiscal Year 2022 – a record high

The entire conversation lasted around 40 minutes, during which time the issue of the southern border crisis did not come up. 

Texas Customs and Border Patrol agents have intercepted millions of migrants trying to cross so-far this year, with Harris and President Biden slammed for their poor handling of the crisis.  

The event was announced as a discussion on ‘the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting reproductive rights.’

Harris was speaking with pro-abortion group NARAL President Mini Timmaraju and Julieta Garibay, senior capacity building director for Groundswell Fund. 

This week, President Joe Biden marked 100 days since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade by criticizing states that have curtailed abortion rights and announcing $6 million in healthcare service funding.

He announced the new guidelines and the federal grants at a meeting of the reproductive rights task force, also attended by Vice President Harris, at the White House.

In his remarks, he described how abortion rights have been curtailed since the Supreme Court ruling.

Harris arrives at the Austin airport with Travis County Judge Andy Brown (L), and Austin Mayor Steve Adler (R) 

Harris speaks to the Texas Democratic Party during the Johnson-Jordan Reception at the Hyatt Regency Austin hours after making her abortion remarks 

After leaving the presidential library, Harris went to a fundraiser for the Texas Democratic Party where she gave a keynote address. 

That gathering aims to raise money for issues such as ‘vote-by-mail assistance, voter protection efforts, community organizing, direct voter contact, and more,’ a press release read. 

It’s the second trip to Texas Harris has made in 30 days. In September, the vice president gave a speech at the National Baptist Convention and at NASA in Houston. 

While Texas is famed for being a deeply conservative state, its three big cities – Dallas, Houston and state capital Austin – are all very liberal.  

At that time, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took aim at Harris’ decision not to visit the border.

‘Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is “secure,” ‘ he said.

‘Texas will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C., until President Biden and Border Czar Harris step up and do their jobs to secure the border.’  

This week, a busload of migrants were dropped off at Harris’ residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. 

GOP governor say they’re bussing the migrants to so-called sanctuary cities to give areas that preach about welcoming migrants a taste of the strain the influx puts on local services.  

At the crack of dawn on Thursday, a bus pulled up near Harris’ home where more than two dozen migrants disembarked and were greeted by aid and volunteer groups.

The migrants were then boarded onto smaller buses and transported to nearby accommodations. 

Republican Sen. John Cornyn posted Harris’ schedule on Twitter adding: ‘No time for the border, apparently’

Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez said he was at the southern border at the same time Harris was speaking in Austin

Prior to arriving in Texas, prominent conservatives in the Lone Star state put pressure on Harris to visit the border. 

On the day of her appearance in Austin, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez posted a photo on Twitter saying: ‘Here at the border. Where’s Kamala?’ 

While Sen. John Cornyn posted Harris’ timetable during her visit to Texas that left ‘no time for the border,’ the Republican said. 

On Thursday, Macarena Martinez, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said of Harris’ trip: ‘The vice president should reconsider her travel plans and visit the southern border that she has so willingly neglected.’

Harris was tasked shortly after taking office with addressing the migration crisis, which her office swiftly moved to rebrand as a role seeking to look at the root causes that lead people to leave their home countries to migrate north and seek asylum in the US.

Republicans have criticized Harris for her failure to do anything to quell migration at the southern border – and have lambasted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

CBP numbers released last month brought the number of encounters in Fiscal Year 2022 to more than 2.1 million, a massive record high – and there is still one more month of reporting left in the year.

This represents a 437 percent increase from the same point in Fiscal Year 2020.

There was also a 279 percent increase in encounters from Fiscal Year 2020 to 2021 – the last year of President Donald Trump’s time in office and first year of the Biden administration.