NBC host Chuck Todd on Sunday challenged Gov Tate Reeves (R-MS) over his push to deny abortion rights for women while insisting that people should have control over their own bodies when it comes to vaccines.
During an interview on Meet the Press, Todd noted that Reeves had recently championed "freedom and individual liberty" when it comes to vaccine mandates.
"Why should the state of Mississippi tell a woman what they should do with their body?" Todd asked. "Why shouldn't they have that individual freedom on their body particularly in the first 20 weeks [of pregnancy]."
"The far left loves to scream 'my body, my choice,'" Reeves replied. "And what I would submit to you, Chuck, is you absolutely ignore the fact that in getting an abortion, there is an actual killing of an innocent unborn child that is in that womb."
Reeves went on to insist that fetuses should be considered "babies" at 15 weeks of age.
"Those babies at 15 weeks can feel pain," he argued. "The difference between vaccine mandates and abortions is vaccines allow you to protect yourself. Abortions actually go in and kill other American babies."
"But vaccines are not about yourself," Todd interrupted. "Hang on a minute. A vaccine is about protecting a larger community. A vaccine is about preventing spread. You could argue a vaccine mandate is a pro-life position."
"You could certainly argue that, Chuck," Reeves agreed. "The vaccine may not keep you from getting the virus. It may not keep you from spreading the virus but it can keep you from ending up in the hospital. That's what's been proven during this delta surge that we've seen in America."
He added: "Conversely, when you're talking about the pro-life position of protecting unborn babies, let's put it also in perspective, the fact is that during this very horrible and challenging time since I was sworn into office in January of 2020, Chuck, we've had 800,000 American lives lost because of Covid. And my heart aches for every single one of those individuals that has died because of Covid ... But since Roe was enacted, 62 million American babies have been aborted and have therefore been killed."
