Kamala Harris says Trump told ‘bald-faced lie’ on late-term abortion: ‘It’s not happening in the US’

The latest episode of Call Her Daddy saw Kamala Harris telling listeners that Donald Trump has told Americans a “bald-faced lie” on late-term abortions. Harris argued that they aren’t “happening anywhere in the United States”. 

Vice President Harris, currently rallying as the Democratic nominee ahead of the ever-nearing presidential election, appeared on the Alex Cooper-fronted podcast on 6 October to discuss women’s rights issues in the US. 

At the start of the episode, Cooper noted that she does not “usually discuss politics or have politicians on the show” in a bid for the series to be “a place that everyone feels comfortable tuning in every single week”. 

However, the podcast host added that “women and the day-to-day issues that we face” are important to her and listeners. “I couldn’t see a world in which one of the main conversations in this election is women, and I’m not a part of it,” Cooper said.

To that end, she and Harris discussed the topic of abortion. The vice president called out former President Trump for perpetuating false claims that Democrats support abortion after birth. Or, in Trump’s own words, “rip[ping] the baby out of the womb”. 

To this, Harris said on the podcast: “That is not happening anywhere in the United States. It is not happening, and it’s a lie. It’s a bald-faced lie.

“Can you imagine? He is suggesting that women in their ninth month of pregnancy are electing to have an abortion. That is so outrageously inaccurate and it’s so insulting to suggest that would be happening and women would be doing that.”

Abortions after 21 weeks, or five months, gestation are rare, and make up just 1% of all abortions in the US, as per KFF. The outlet explained that abortions occurring “moments before birth” or even “after birth” are false. “These scenarios do not occur, nor are they legal in the United States.”

Reasons for women and those with uteruses seeking an abortion later in pregnancy are due to medical concerns with the foetus, maternal life endangerment, or barriers to receiving an earlier abortion. 

Harris also called out the former president for nominating three Supreme Court members who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. She said: “There are now 20 states with Trump abortion bans, including bans that make no exceptions for rape or incest, which we just discussed, which means that you’re telling a survivor of a crime with a violation of their body, they don’t have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body next, which is immoral.”

She continued of abortion care: “Ultimately, this is not about imposing my thoughts on you in terms of what you do with your life or your body. It’s actually quite the opposite. It’s saying [that] the government should not be telling people what to do.”

For abortion support in the US, visit Planned Parenthood here. For abortion support in the UK and Northern Ireland, visit the NHS website here. For abortion support in Ireland, which has been lawful since March 2020, visit HSE here.

• TV
• May 11

All 13 seasons of Doctor Who ranked from worst to best