‘Non-Negotiable’: Kamala Harris Bristles When NBC’s Hallie Jackson Pushes For What ‘Concessions’ She’ll Make On Abortion

NBC News NOW anchor and senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson pressed Vice President Kamala Harris to name “specific concessions” she’d put on the table on abortion rights — but the VP said those rights are “non-negotiable.”

Vice President Harris sat for a one-on-one interview with Jackson on Tuesday night’s edition of NBC Nightly News, during which Jackson pushed Harris on the issue of abortion by repeatedly floating “concessions” to Republicans if they end up controlling Congress.

Harris told Jackson “I don’t think we should be making concessions” about a “fundamental freedom”:

JACKSON: Some of those voters that I spoke with at some of the events yesterday, for example, talked about they were there to support you, but also your agenda when it comes to reproductive rights and abortion access, and you have cast this as a matter of literal life and death as an urgent priority here. If you win, it is entirely possible that Congress will be controlled by Republicans. So what specific concessions would you be willing to make in order to get something done on abortion access as soon as possible?

HARRIS: Well, first of all, look at what has happened since the Dobbs decision came down, a decision that is a direct result of the fact that Donald Trump hand selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention they would undo the protections of Roe. They did as he intended. And now in 20 states, we have Trump abortion bans, which some make no exceptions for rape or incest.

Which criminalizes health care providers, in a state like Texas, prison for life for doctors and nurses if they provide reproductive care. And where we have seen this issue on the ballot, to your point about elections, from red states to blue states, when freedom is on the ballot, the American people vote for freedom regardless of the party they are registered to vote with. We have seen that.

And I know that there are members of the United States Congress who are well aware that their constituents are in favor of the very fundamental principle that a woman should be able to make decisions about her own body, and not have her government tell her what to do.

JACKSON: So is a question of pragmatism then: what concessions would be on the table? Religious exemptions, for example, is that something that you would consider with a Republican controlled Congress?

HARRIS: I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body.

JACKSON: To Republicans like, for example, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, who would back something like this on a Democratic agenda, if, in fact, Republicans control Congress, would you offer them an olive branch, or is that off the table? Is that not an option for you?

HARRIS: I’m not gonna engage in hypotheticals because we could go on a variety of scenarios. Let’s just start with a 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.

JACKSON: But what if you can’t do that? What if you can’t get that passed, and you want to save lives in Florida, and in Texas, and in Georgia? What do you do with that?

HARRIS: I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole with you right now. Cause right now —

JACKSON: It’s a question that’s out there, because it’s not a guarantee that Democrats will win control of Congress.

HARRIS: Well, I’m doing everything I can to make that sure we do. On this issue I think that what is clear to me is whether someone is, I was just with one of the leaders, and I think opinion leaders in the Republican party. Liz Cheney, who has, she has, as she has stated publicly and has expressed her private feelings.

JACKSON: She said it on stage yesterday.

HARRIS: She is pro-life, but she also understands the pain and the tragedy that has happened since Donald Trump allowed Roe v Wade to be overturned. So that’s my point about what is non-negotiable. It has to be that we agree that it is so fundamental that we allow women the ability with their doctor, with, if they choose, talking with their faith leader, to be able to make these decisions and not have the government tell her what to do.

Watch above via NBC Nightly News.