Watch "Face the Nation Sunday" for more Robert Costa's interview of Vice President Kamala Harir.
The Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in America for almost half a century. It deprived American women "of a constitutional right," Kamala Harris, Vice President Kamala Harris said.
She said that she felt a deep sense that all Americans share an outrage at the United States Supreme Court taking away a constitutional right that was already recognized. Robert Costa, CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent, spoke to her in an interview on Friday. She said, "We are now examining a case in which the government can interfere with what is one the most intimate and private decisions someone can make."
Although the Biden administration acknowledges its limited ability to reverse the action of the high court, it believes that Congress would be the best way to restore abortion access to all women. The administration is doing what it can. On Friday, Harris signed an executive order to help women who seek abortions. It protects their right to access medication abortions and allows them to travel to abortion-legal states.
Harris acknowledged the president's actions, but stressed that Congress must also act, as that is where we codify, that is, put into law, rights we once took for granted but have clearly been stripped from women in America."
She said that "And that must happen," and that Congress should act.
Costa asked Harris if Democrats had erred by not acting sooner: "When we look back, Democrats failed, past Democratic presidents and congressional leaders to codify Roe V. Wade over five decades?"
She replied, "I believe that, to be very truthful with you, I --I do believe that we should've rightly believed, however, we certainly believed certain issues were just settled." "Some issues are just resolved."
Costa pointed out, however, that this was not the case.
Harris responded, "No, that's correct." Harris replied, "That's why I believe we are living in real unsettling times,"
Recriminations have been levelled against some of the newer court members, especially Justices Brett Kavanaugh (and Neil Gorsuch) after the 5-4 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe. Costa asked Harris about senators who claimed that the two misled them in their confirmation hearings regarding Roe's settled law status. He noted that some Democrats had even called for their impeachment.
Harris didn't weigh in on whether the senators should be impeached. However, she stated that, "I start with the experience of having served as a Senator. They were not true. They were not true to my belief. That's why I voted against."
Vice President also stated that some of the hard-earned rights, such as the right of gay couples to marry and the rights of Americans who can vote, may be at risk.
"You can look at it as if, there's an additional example of this point -- voting right. Harris stated that Harris' parents were involved in the civil rights movement. People marched and fought, broad coalitions of people from different races, religions, ethnicities, and gender, to affirm that the fundamental principle of democracy is that everyone should be able to vote. You can see that there are many states in the country making it harder for people to vote. That was our conclusion.
Like President Biden Harris, Harris believes that Roe should be made the law.
Harris stated, "If you think of the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Acts, Congress acted because there was any doubt, especially through courts or other systems, about the sanctity these rights. We decided as a nation that we would make it into law." That's what we should do with Roe, and the principles that underlie Roe.
