Twitter users criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not including the phrase “life” in her recitation of a quote from the Declaration of Independence during a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion nationwide.
“We collectively believe and know, America is a promise. … It is a promise of freedom and liberty, not just some but for all. We are each endowed with the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Harris said Sunday.
The original text of the document reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“Hey @VP, It’s LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have the right to LIFE,” Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted.
The omission was seen by some as revealing the weakness of her argument.
“Omitting a crucial part of the Declaration of Independence undermines the strength of one’s argument,” said Leslie Ann Robertson of the Senate Working Group.
Others pointed out that Harris also removed the reference to “creator” from the part of the quote about endowments, including Matt Lewis, a senior columnist for Daily Beast, who wrote “Kamala Harris stated that according to Declaration of Independence, we are each endowed with the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness (***She leaves out the key words ‘by our Creator’ and ‘the right to life.’)”
