Kaitlan Collins Uses Nancy Mace’s Own Words to Ask Why She Voted For Measure That Means ‘Being A**holes to Women’

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) as to why she voted for the National Defense Authorization Act and an amendment to it that the congresswoman said is tantamount to “being assholes to women.”

The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act on Friday by a 219 to 210 vote Mace voted for the bill, as well as an amendment on Thursday banning government-paid travel for U.S. service members who want abortions, but are stationed in states where it is illegal.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to undergo changes.

“You have repeatedly spoken out on your party’s stance on abortion,” Collins noted to Mace on Friday’s edition of The Source. “And you said yesterday – and I’m quoting you now – that your party needs to ‘stop being assholes to women.’ So, why did you vote for this today?”

“I want to be consistent on military policy and whether travel – because this is very specific to travel – the military does not pay for abortion services at all,” Mace replied. “But this was strictly related to travel. And the military does not in any other case reimburse for travel expenses for elective procedures. Now, I didn’t like, I did not like the idea of this amendment. These are not issues that I believe we should be voting on right now without some consideration of what we can do to protect women and show that we’re pro-women, which has been my frustration for the better part of the last seven months.”

Collins followed up by framing the issue as one of fairness.

“But to the Pentagon policy, you’re right that it is not paying for the procedure,” the host said. “But also, when you look at this, a woman service member who’s stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York, for example, has more access to abortion services and reproductive health options. A woman who’s stationed at Fort Hood in Texas has to travel to get those same services. Do you think that’s fair?”

“Nothing in here would prohibit a woman from traveling out of state to follow state law,” Mace responded. “So, I think that’s, you know, a really important message. Nothing would prohibit her from being able to do that. There are no limits on her travel.”

“Right, it doesn’t prevent them, of course, from going and getting the procedure,” Collins agreed. “But if you’re in the middle of Texas and you’ve gotta get a flight to a state where you can get an abortion, it’s different than if you’re someone who is in New York or somewhere where you can get one. And of course, as you know, these service members don’t decide where they’re stationed. If they’re in my home state of Alabama, it’s virtually inaccessible.”

Mace answered by saying though, “These votes aren’t easy” and maintained that “we can be pro-women and pro-life at the same time.”

Earlier in the day, Politico reported that on Thursday, Mace fretted about the looming vote on the abortion travel amendment that she ended up voting for.

“We should not be taking this fucking vote, man,” she told a staffer. “Fuck.”

Watch above via CNN.