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Vice President Kamala Harris has come out against faith-based exemptions for abortion rights legislation, raising alarm about her commitment to religious liberty by saying she is unwilling to compromise on the “fundamental freedom” of abortion.
In an interview with NBC News, the Democratic presidential candidate was asked what concessions she would accept to convince Republican lawmakers to support a national abortion rights bill.
“Religious exemptions, for example, is that something that you would consider with a Republican-controlled Congress?” NBC correspondent Hallie Jackson asked Tuesday during an interview at the Naval Observatory.
Ms. Harris replied: “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body.”
Ms. Jackson pressed on, asking if she might be willing to extend an “olive branch” to pro-choice Republican senators such as Susan M. Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in exchange for their support.
Ms. Harris remained firm. “I’m not gonna engage in hypotheticals because we could go on a variety of scenarios,” she said.
“Let’s just start with a fundamental fact, a basic freedom has been taken from the women of America: the freedom to make decisions about their own body,” she said. “And that cannot be negotiable, which is that we need to put back in the protections of Roe v Wade. And that is it.”
Kamala Harris vows no religious exemptions to medical personnel for abortions https://t.co/nLsbnRbCaF
— American Thinker (@AmericanThinker) October 23, 2024
Her response raised concerns among religious and pro-life groups that a Harris administration would, for example, require medical providers to perform elective pregnancy terminations despite their faith objections.
“Kamala Harris admits she would deny religious exemptions for abortions — forcing Christians to kill unborn children and seemingly doubling down on weaponizing the government to jail pro-lifers who pray outside abortion facilities,” CatholicVote said in a statement. “Why would any Christian vote for her?”
Andrew Walker, professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, posted on X: “Behold: Killing a pre-born child is a more fundamental right than religious liberty according to Vice President Harris.”
The Center for Baptist Leadership called her comments “absolutely chilling.”
“Kamala Harris says that she does not believe in religious exemptions for abortion,” the center posted on X. “This means that all Christian hospitals, healthcare providers, businesses, etc., would be forced to provide/cover abortion if she got her way. It would be the end of the First Amendment and religious liberty as we know it.”
Ms. Harris has previously said she would support ending the Senate filibuster to pass a national abortion rights law, while former President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of a national abortion ban, saying he would leave the issue to the states.
The Supreme Court overturned in June 2022 the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, sending jurisdiction to the states.
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