On Face the Nation earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris informed host Marjorie Brennan that it was “ridiculous” and a “mischaracterization” to say that the Democrats support abortion until birth. When Brennan pushed her as to what point in pregnancy abortion should be permitted, Harris refused to answer, reiterating that the Democrats merely want to enshrine Roe v. Wade into federal law.
It is no surprise that Harris does not want to get specific about which abortion restrictions Democrats want to support — because her party does, in fact, support abortion until birth. In fact, the Democrats have consistently voted against legislation protecting babies who survive abortions and mandating medical care. Kamala Harris herself voted against protecting abortion survivors when she was a senator.
This position is wildly unpopular with the American public — about 80% oppose abortion in the last three months of pregnancy. In fact, public support for Roe v. Wade was largely due to the fact that most Americans were unaware that pro-life laws they did support were impossible under Roe.
Thus, what was surprising about Harris’s appearance on Face the Nation was not her refusal to state her position on abortion laws in plain English; her attempts at obfuscation; or the word salads she serves up so liberally and often. Rather, it was the fact that a mainstream media host actually bothered to push a Democrat on that question at all. Most have been happy to interrogate Republicans on the toughest cases—such as abortion in the cases of rape or incest — while declining to ask Democrats for their views on infanticidal procedures, despite their voting record on the issue.
That’s because the press is on their side.
Exhibit A is another mainstream media conversation, this one between “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinksi and Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and a Republican candidate for president.
“Listen, Joe, I’ve argued for decades as a lawyer that Roe was wrong,” Christie stated. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that talks about this issue, it should be left to states and I think we should allow that to continue. We should allow each state, and most importantly its citizens, to weigh in on this issue.”
