(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Kamala Harris (D.-Calif.), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a Democratic presidential primary debate on Oct. 15, 2019 that “women have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species.”
Harris was explaining her views about abortion and why, were she president, she would aggressively use federal power to go after state that were placing restrictions on abortion.
“For any state that passes a law that violates the Constitution, and in particular Roe v. Wade, our Department of Justice will review that law to determine if it is compliant with Roe v. Wade and the Constitution, and if it is not, that law will not go into effect,” Harris said. “That's called pre-clearance.”
“The reality of it is, this is still a fundamental issue of justice for women in America,” said Harris.
“Women have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species,” she said. “Our bodies were created to do that.
“And it does not give any other person the right to tell a woman what to do with that body,” she said. “It is her body. It is her right. It is her decision.”
Here is a transcript of the part of the Oct. 15, 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate where Harris said that women “have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species:”
Erin Burnett: “Senator Harris, if states prevail on restricting abortion, what's your plan to stop them?
Kamala Harris: “My plan is as -- as follows. For any state that passes a law that violates the Constitution, and in particular Roe v. Wade, our Department of Justice will review that law to determine if it is compliant with Roe v. Wade and the Constitution, and if it is not, that law will not go into effect. That's called pre-clearance.
“Because the reality is that while we still have -- as I said earlier -- these state legislators who are outdated and out of touch, mostly men who are telling women what to do with their bodies, then there needs to be accountability and consequence.
“But, you know, I'll go further. You may have seen it. I questioned Brett Kavanaugh when I was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and asked him as a nominee to serve on the United States Supreme Court, could he think of any law that tells a man what to do with his body? And the answer was, uh, uh, no.
“The reality of it is, this is still a fundamental issue of justice for women in America. Women have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species. Our bodies were created to do that. And it does not give any other person the right to tell a woman what to do with that body. It is her body. It is her right. It is her decision."