Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting

Kamala Harris on Friday attacked Republican rival Donald Trump and his party as "hypocrites" over abortion, as the first voters cast their ballots for November's knife-edge U.S. election.

The Democrat delivered one of the most forceful speeches of her campaign so far, blaming Trump for an abortion ban in the battleground state of Georgia that she said had caused the deaths of two women.

"And these hypocrites want to start talking about how this is in the best interest of women and children," the vice president told a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, to cheers from a mainly female audience.

"Well, where have you been? Where have you been when it comes to taking care of the women and children of America, where have you been? How dare they."

Since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket two months ago, Harris has repeatedly focused on what she calls "Trump abortion bans."

Trump has frequently bragged on the campaign trail that his three Supreme Court picks paved the way for the 2022 overturning of the national right to abortion.

At least 20 states have since brought in full or partial restrictions, with Georgia banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Harris doubled down on the issue later Friday at a raucous rally in Madison, a liberal-leaning city in swing state Wisconsin, where she slammed the bans as "immoral."

"This is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect."

In both speeches, Harris mentioned Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old mother of one from Georgia who developed a rare complication from abortion pills and died during emergency surgery in 2022.

An official Georgia state committee blamed the fatal outcome on a "preventable" lag in...

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