WASHINGTON (OSV News) ─ After Vice President Kamala Harris said she does not think "concessions" should be made on codifying abortion protections, some pro-life activists expressed concern that a potential Harris administration would not implement religious exemptions to abortion policy.
In an Oct. 22 interview with NBC's Hallie Jackson, Harris was asked "what concessions" to her position "would be on the table?"
"Religious exemptions, for example, is that something that you would consider with a Republican-controlled Congress?" Jackson asked.
Harris replied that "I don't think we should be making concessions when we're talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body."
Pressed by Jackson if she would offer "an olive branch" to Republicans on the issue, Harris said, "I'm not (going to) engage in hypotheticals because we could go on a variety of scenarios."
"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, and that cannot be negotiable, which is that we need to put back in the protections of Roe v. Wade. And that is it."
At an Oct. 23 CNN town hall, Harris had an exchange with a voter who said he disagreed with her position on abortion, but he was concerned about former president and Republican nominee Doland J. Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
Harris noted she has been campaigning with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney who is "unapologetically pro-life" and who nonetheless has endorsed Harris because of her concerns regarding Trump's fitness for office.
"I find that many people I've met who are pro-life have said to me, you know, I didn't intend that this would happen ... I didn't intend that women who are suffering a miscarriage would develop sepsis as has happened many times. I didn't intend that women would die," Harris said.
Some pro-life activists expressed concern that Harris did not commit to religious liberty exemptions in abortion policy, such as allowing health care professionals who hold a faith-based or other conscience objection to be exempt from participating in such procedures.
Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a senior fellow with The Catholic Association, said in a statement that Harris "should clarify, and quickly, whether given the chance she would force Americans who object on religious or conscience grounds, to participate in abortion."
"Sadly, it would not be the first time Harris has used her political power to trample the rights of religious Americans," Christie said.
The group SBA Pro-Life America, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Harris "promises 'freedom' but then pledges to federally steamroll Americans into taking part in abortions against their will. (Doctors) must perform them, taxpayers must pay for them, for any reason, in all 50 states, no exceptions."
Harris has made expanding access to abortion a key part of her campaign. But Trump has stated he would veto a federal abortion ban if one reached his desk as president.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, opposing direct abortion as an act of violence that takes the life of the unborn child.
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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) @kgscanlon.
