During an interview with Wisconsin’s WTMJ’s “Spanning the State” on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on if there is openness to a compromise on abortion restrictions by stating that she is finding that most people think “it should not be the government telling” women what to do.
Host Kristin Brey asked, [relevant exchange begins around 3:55] “[B]eyond a national [ban] — and there [are] these polarizing terms that are sometimes used when the different camps talk about abortion, is there, at a federal level, talk of or openness to compromise to abortion access, and if so, what is it?”
Harris answered, “Here’s what I’m finding, and I’ve been now traveling the country, … I’ve done over 80 events on this issue in red states and blue states, and here’s one of the things that I’m finding as we continue to point out the harm and the outrageous nature of what some states are doing: One, that most people can agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply-held beliefs to simply agree that government should not be telling her what to do, right? She will make that decision if she chooses with her priest, her rabbi, her pastor, her imam, but it should not be the government telling her what to do. The second point I would make is that, based on the work that I have done over the years, I do believe that most people have empathy, and as people are learning, after the Dobbs decision came down, about the extraordinary harm that has resulted, many people who otherwise have strong opinions about this issue are sitting back to say, but I didn’t intend that this kind of harm would happen to people, right? And it doesn’t require them to change their positions on the issue for themselves or even their family, but I think that people are really being impacted by the horror stories.”
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