V.P. Kamala Harris defends abortion rights on anniversary of Supreme Court decision

June 24 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris defended abortion rights in North Carolina Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of Dobbs vs. Jackson, the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe vs. Wade.

Harris delivered remarks to a gathering of abortion rights supporters at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte.

"We, all of us, are now called upon to advance the promise of freedom, including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body," Harris said, noting that lawmakers in the state have passed their own version of an abortion ban, which is set to take effect on July 1.

North Carolina Republicans last month used their supermajority powers to quash Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a 12-week abortion ban as well as other restrictions, such as allowing healthcare providers to object to performing the procedure "on moral, ethnical or religious grounds."

The GOP lawmakers were able to override Cooper due to the slim veto-proof supermajority they had gained in the House in April when Democrat state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched parties.

"Next week, overruling the will of the people, North Carolina will be the latest state with an extreme ban, despite the best efforts of [Cooper]," Harris said.

Abortion rights are about "freedom to make decisions about one's own life, one's own body," the vice president said. "The freedom to be free from government interference when it comes to one's private decisions."

The North Carolina law is currently held up in the courts. Planned Parenthood filed suit against it this month and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Cooper told the crowd an abortion ban is not surprising because "the loss of a few seats in the Legislature and a party-flipping legislator gave the Republicans a supermajority."

President Joe Biden also denounced the degradation of abortion rights in a statement Saturday.

"One year ago today, the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right from the American people, denying women across the nation the right to choose," he said. "Overturning Roe vs. Wade, which has been the law of the land for nearly half a century, has already had devastating consequences."