In what’s becoming a familiar refrain for Kamala Harris, the U.S. Vice President said (twice) on Monday that Americans don’t need to “abandon their faith” to support women’s reproductive rights, including access to abortion.
Kamala Harris: Keep Abortion & Faith Separate
Speaking in New Jersey July 18, first at the NAACP national convention, the VP advocated for protecting the “freedom for a woman to make decisions about her own body.” Women’s “ability…to make that decision,” she added, “does not require anyone to abandon their faith or their beliefs. It just requires us to agree the government shouldn’t be making that decision for her.”
Later, during a roundtable discussion with New Jersey state legislators, Harris said, “I think it’s important to note that you don’t have to abandon your faith or your beliefs to agree that the government should not be interfering with her decision, that woman’s decision, over her body and her life. The government should not be interfering, and no one has to abandon their faith or their belief to agree that certain decisions are not the government’s to make, and that is one of them.” Harris also praised New Jersey lawmakers for “doing model work…in protecting a woman’s ability to make decisions about her body.”
Last month, during a speech in Virginia, Harris said, “For those of us of faith, I think that we agree, many of us, that there’s nothing about this issue that will require anyone to abandon their faith or change their faith.”
On June 6, the VP met with some U.S. faith leaders to discuss abortion rights. “To support Roe v. Wade and all it stands for, does not mean giving up your beliefs,” Harris said of the now-overturned ruling. “It is simply about agreeing that a woman should be able to make that decision with her faith leader, with her family, with her physician. And that the government should not be making that decision for her.”
Some Christians Push Back Against ‘Esteemed Theologian’ Harris
Newsweek recently spoke to several women of faith who agree with Harris. Jamie Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, indicates that practicing Catholic women “are having abortions.” Linda Goler Blount, president of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, says, “The majority of Black people, whether they’re Christians or not, believe a woman should have the right to choose.”
However, other Christians and church leaders swiftly rebutted the VP’s talking points. On Twitter, BlazeTV podcast host and author Allie Beth Stuckey shared video of Harris speaking in New Jersey, captioning it, “Esteemed theologian Kamala Harris.”
