During Kamala Harris’s interview with NBC News anchor Hallie Jackson on Tuesday evening, the subject of abortion came up. Unsurprisingly, Harris came out in strongly favor of legal abortion. She criticized President Trump’s Supreme Court appointees and said we need to “restore the protections of Roe v. Wade.” However, when asked if she would be willing to make concessions, including “religious exemptions,” she declined, stating, “We should not be making concessions when we are talking about a fundamental freedom.”
The interview moved on to other subjects. However, Harris should make it clear what conscience rights she opposes. The federal government has many rules in place to protect the conscience rights of health-care professionals and health-care providers that do not wish to participate in abortions. Does Harris oppose the Weldon amendment, which prevents HHS funds from going to entities that discriminate against health-care care providers that do not pay for, provide, cover, or refer for abortions? Does she oppose then Coats-Snowe amendment, when prevents the federal government from discriminating against health-care entities that do not perform abortions?
However, the best question to ask Kamala Harris would be if she opposes the Church amendments. The Church amendments were passed in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade decision. They were part of the Health Programs Extension Act of 1973, which was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and was opposed by only one House member. The Church amendments protect the rights of individuals and entities that object to performing certain procedures “because of their religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Does Harris want to force religious health-care professionals to participate in abortions against their will?
These questions will very likely go unanswered. Most journalists and commentators are aware the conscience rights of religious Americans enjoy broad support. They certainly do not want to highlight Harris’s position on this issue. That said, Harris and most Democratic elected officials have at least made it clear that they oppose the Hyde amendment and support federal taxpayer funding of elective abortions through Medicaid. They owe to the American people the same specificity about where they stand on the conscience rights of religious health-care professionals.