Kamala Harris plays dumb when CBS anchor pushes for precise answer on abortion, repeats same answer five times

 Vice President Kamala Harris refused to answer on Sunday a direct question about abortion access.

Harris, like most Democrats, wants Congress to pass a law codifying abortion rights. The problem, however, is that advocates of pro-abortion laws almost never endorse any gestational limit, leaving open the possibility of abortion way beyond fetal viability. Currently, seven states — Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont — and Washington, D.C., permit abortion without any gestational limit. 

So what does Harris say? That was the layup question CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan asked on Sunday.

"What is it that you believe? What week of pregnancy should abortion access be cut off?" Brennan queried.

Harris responded that the "protections of Roe v. Wade" need to be restored. But what exactly does that mean? As Brennan noted, Roe v. Wade was "nebulous" because it drew a line at fetal viability, but the White House has endorsed the Women's Health Protection Act, which permits abortion beyond fetal viability "when a provider determines the pregnancy risks the patient's life or health." 

So which is it?

"We need to put back the protections that are in Roe v. Wade into law," Harris said a second time. "Since the Supreme Court took it, Congress has the power and ability to pass legislation to put those protections back in law, and Joe Biden will sign that bill. So that is what we want." 

The question-dodging failed to deter Brennan.

"But does it need to be specific in terms of defining where that guarantee goes up to and where it does not, at which week of pregnancy?" the anchor pressed.

"We need to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade," Harris said a third time.

After more back-and-forth, Harris said a fourth time that "protections of Roe v. Wade" need to be restored, and when confronted with New Mexico's lack of a gestational limit on abortion and whether she agrees with that, Harris said a fifth time, "I believe that we should put the protections of Roe v. Wade into law."

Vice President Kamala Harris on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" | full interview