VP Kamala Harris says college women should be ‘trusted’ to decide if they want an abortion

Kamala Harris convened university presidents on Monday to discuss reproductive health with the overturn of Roe v. Wade coupled with heightened instances of sexual assault on college campuses.

‘We must trust the women of America to make those intimate decisions for themselves,’ the vice president said during a round table in her ceremonial office.

She noted that those most affected by the Supreme Court decision in June are college aged women.

Roberta Cordano, the president of Gallaudet University, a higher education institution for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C., said ahead of the closed-door meeting that women with disabilities are also more disproportionately affected by sexual assault.

She noted during her ASL remarks that the Roe decision will also more gravely affect this community and their ability to make reproductive decisions.

Harris said the Supreme Court made an unprecedented move by deciding ‘to take a constitutional right that had been recognized’.

Joining Harris were university presidents and chancellors along with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (right of Harris) and American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell (partially in frame on the right)

‘Students and others now have a new set of barriers to accessing health care,’ Education Secretary Miguel Cardona noted in his brief statement.

Remarks were made for press before a closed-door roundtable moderated by American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell.

Mitchell told press before doors shut that the overturn of Roe v. Wade is ‘a real issue for campuses’ and ‘a real issue for our students.’

He said college students and staff feel ‘confusion and uncertainty’ by the Dobbs ruling and the fact that there are now more varied state-by-state abortion laws.

Other participants in Monday’s event included Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover, President; City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguezl; Dartmouth College President Philip J. Hanlon; Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar; Howard University President Wayne Frederick; University of California-Irvine (UCI) Chancellor Howard Gillman; and Reed College President Audrey Bilger.

While the college leaders spoke, Harris was seen writing on her notepad.

Roberta Cordano, President of Gallaudet University, a higher education institution for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C., said ahead of the closed-door meeting that women with disabilities are also more disproportionately affected by sexual assault. She noted during her ASL remarks that the Roe decision will also more gravely affect this community and their ability to make reproductive decisions

The Vice President’s office noted that since May, when a story leaked on the impending overturn of Roe, Harris held more than two dozen meetings with leaders on the frontlines of the fight to keep abortion federally legal.

The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling ended the federal rights to an abortion, instead sending the issue back to states to decide how to govern healthcare for pregnant women.

Many of the university leaders on Monday said that they know their students will protest and fight to keep abortion legal when they return to school in the fall.