Kamala Harris says she is against concessions on abortion bill, including religious exemptions

In an interview with NBC Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she would not agree to any concessions in order to more quickly pass a bill on abortion, including any religious concessions.
NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson asked Harris if Republicans control Congress, what “specific concessions” would she be willing to make in order to pass legislation on abortion access. “Religious exemptions, for example, is that something that you would consider?”
Harris said she would not consider any concessions.
“I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris said.
Jackson pressed Harris, asking her if that argument would win over Republican senators like Susan Collins of Maine, or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
“Would you offer them an olive branch? Or is that off the table? Is that not an option for you?” Jackson asked.
“I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals, because we can go on with a variety of scenarios,” Harris replied. “Let’s start with the 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.”
Last month, Harris said she supports ending the filibuster in order to pass a national abortion bill.
“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” Harris said.
Harris has repeatedly said she does not think religious people need to abandon their “deeply held beliefs” in order to support greater access to abortion.
But Catholics and other religious groups have expressed concern over Harris’ record on religious freedom when it comes to abortion and other social issues.
“Throughout her career as a public official, Kamala Harris has long used government power to try to coerce people of faith to violate their consciences, especially regarding abortion and gender ideology,” Kristen Waggoner, CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Wall Street Journal.
As California attorney general, Harris opposed religious exemptions for employers like Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor over access to contraception, and she has pushed regulations and legislation that could have forced doctors and hospitals to perform abortions even if they were opposed for religious reasons.