Abortion, Israel, crime: Where does Kamala Harris stand on key issues?

As the likely Democratic nominee for president, potential voters have a renewed focus on Harris’s policy beliefs and initiatives

Days after President Joe Biden announced his historic decision to withdraw from the 2024 race, it’s all eyes on Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Though Harris has spent the last four years in the White House, her role as VP has largely centered around supporting the Biden administration’s initiatives. As she hits the campaign trail to raise cash and shore up support, the vice president will now have to present her vision of the US to potential voters, revealing how a Harris administration would handle key policies and issues. 

While much remains unknown about Harris’s potential platform — and how it will differ from her predecessor’s — here is what we know about her take on several key policy issues.

Abortion

Harris may be most well known for her stance on abortion rights — something she spent considerable time on the Biden campaign trail advocating for after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Over the last few months, Harris has stopped in multiple states to speak with abortion rights advocates as part of her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, becoming the unofficial Biden administration ambassador to the issue.

She has called state abortion bans a “health care crisis” and highlighted their negative impact on maternal mortality rates. Harris has also come out in favor of codifying abortion protections that Roe v. Wade offered into federal law.

Harris has been an outspoken supporter of abortion rights her entire career — which proved valuable for the Biden campaign since Biden himself has an inconsistent track record on the subject.

While serving as a senator in 2019, Harris pitched a plan to require states to clear any reproductive health laws with the Department of Justice to ensure that they don’t violate federal abortion rights.

Vice President Kamala Harris is embracing her position as the Democrats’ leading champion for abortion rights in this year's election. Harris visits Wisconsin on Monday for the first in a series of nationwide events focused on abortion, which remains politically potent almost two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (AP)

Immigration

Harris has largely advocated for more humane treatment of migrants but was highly scrutinized for her handling of the issue when she was tasked with analyzing the root causes of migration from Central America in 2021.

In the past, the vice president has been highly critical of Donald Trump’s immigration policies, calling them “inhumane.”

Harris visited the border in 2021 before the end of Title 42 – the emergency Covid-19-era policy that allowed the US to turn away migrants. At the time, she advocated for “thoughtful and effective” policies to be enacted.

But the vice president also told migrants in Guatemala that same year “Do not come” to the border and warned they would be forced to turn around if they made the dangerous journey.

Harris faced criticisms from both sides of the aisle.

Democrats, like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said Harris’s comments were “disappointing” and criticized her for trying to restrict asylum-seekers from coming into the U.S. for stability.

Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Kamala Harris speaks with Lili Montalban and her daughter Roxanna Gozzer, as they visit the outside of a detention center for migrant children on June 28, 2019 in Homestead, Florida (Getty Images)

Republicans have accused Harris of not doing enough to help negate the problem.

To deal with growing frustrations, Texas Governor Greg Abbot sent a busload of migrants to the vice president’s home in Washington DC to send a message.

The political climate around immigration and the US–Mexico border has changed dramatically since then, and it is unclear what specific policies Harris would enact.

Foreign Policy

Harris’s position on foreign policy has not deviated far from Biden’s. She’s said she is “committed to pursuing global engagement” and defending “democratic values at home and abroad.”

She supports US involvement in NATO and said in 2019 said she would re-enter the Paris Agreement if she were to be elected. She is supportive of Ukraine and vowed to back them in their war against Russia.

Israel and Gaza

In the wake of the October 7th attack, Harris voiced strong support for Israel and maintained that hostages should be brought home, but in recent months has indicated she could be tougher on Israel than her predecessor.

In December, Harris said she and Biden had been “clear” with the Israeli government that, “it matters how” Israel defends itself, while in March, she pushed for a ceasefire.

Harris reportedly declined to preside over the Senate chamber on Wednesday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint Congressional meeting.

But in the past, Harris voiced support for a two-state solution.

Crime

As a former prosecutor and attorney general of California, Harris has pitched herself as a “progressive prosecutor” who implemented criminal justice reforms ahead of her time.

Harris vocally opposed the death penalty, she implemented racial bias training for parts of law enforcement and introduced a re-entry program to help low-level offenders, among other incentives.

When Harris ran for president in 2019, her platform emphasized the fight for racial justice. She said she would expand investigations into police misconduct, establish a national police misconduct registry, set a national standard for use of force and require states to report use of force incidents.

Vice President Kamala Harris applauds as President Joe Biden speaks before signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 20, 2021 (AP)

Critics have been skeptical of Harris’s promises since her record shows some contradictions.

She fought to keep prisoners in prison, even after it was determined California prisons were overcrowded. Critics are also quick to point out that she prosecuted marijuana crimes at a higher rate than her predecessor.

Harris also believes in gun safety legislation. She advocated for a ban on assault weapons while supporting the Second Amendment.