J.D. Vance: Trump will veto national pro-life law
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. president Donald Trump, left, poses for photos with Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio before making remarks to a crowd during an event on Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, North Carolina. / Credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).
Days after former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights,” Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance confirmed that Trump would veto any national law to protect unborn life.
This follows the Democratic Party’s national convention Aug. 19–22 in which speakers — including now-presidential nominee Kamala Harris — emphasized abortion, which they refer to as “reproductive rights,” as a core issue in the 2024 election.
Vance was asked during a Saturday interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Trump would support a national law banning abortion.
“Democrats made the case this week and beyond this week that Donald Trump, if elected, will impose a federal ban on abortion if he wins. Now, Donald Trump says he won’t, but can you commit, sitting right here with me today, that if you and Donald Trump are elected that you will not impose a federal ban on abortion?” NBC reporter Kristen Welker asked.
“I can absolutely commit that, Kristen; Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible,” Vance responded.
When pressed whether Trump would block any national law to protect unborn life, whether at 15 weeks or conception, Vance said: “I think he would; he said that explicitly, that he would.”
Vance’s statement echoes Trump’s messaging, which has been consistent since April that he considers abortion a states’ issue.
Shortly after announcing his official policy position on abortion in early April, Trump was similarly asked whether he would sign a national abortion ban, to which he responded repeatedly: “No.” Trump has also said that he considers many conservative positions on abortion to be “too severe” and that abortion “will never be a federal issue again.”
As the junior senator from Ohio, Vance has previously been outspoken about his pro-life stance. But some of his recent comments on abortion, most notably his statement that he supports access to the abortion pill mifepristone, have caused concern among some pro-life activists.
Chemical abortion now accounts for 63% of all U.S. abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Vance reiterated in the Saturday interview Trump’s position that abortion policy decisions be left to the states.
“Donald Trump, I think, has staked his position and made it very explicit: He wants this to be a state decision; states are going to make this determination themselves,” he said.
“Donald Trump wants to end this culture war over this particular topic. If California wants to have a different abortion policy from Ohio, then Ohio has to respect California and California has to respect Ohio,” Vance went on. “The federal government ought to be focused on getting food prices down, getting housing prices down … So, I think Donald Trump is right — we want the federal government to focus on these big economic and immigration questions. Let the states figure out their own abortion policy.”
The response from the pro-life community has been mixed.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser responded by urging pro-lifers to focus on the “short-term urgent threat” of Harris, who has pledged to sign a national pro-abortion law.
“The [pro-life] cause is way bigger and younger than Donald Trump. It will shape the GOP beyond this Trump moment,” Dannenfelser said. “The short-term urgent threat? Harris-Walz and all Senate candidates promising unlimited six-, seven-, eight-, nine-month abortion as the only option for women.”
Responding to Trump’s post about “reproductive rights,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, urged the former president to “stop digging” himself into a hole.
“The DNC [Democratic National Committee] has the corner on the abortion market,” he said. “Trump is not only suppressing his own support, he is going to hurt the vast majority of Republican candidates who are 100% pro-life.”
Meanwhile, Lila Rose, president of Live Action, issued a much more pointed statement on X.
“Due to their increasingly pro-abortion position, Trump/Vance is stretching the lesser-of-two-evils voting strategy to an untenable position,” Rose said. “Without some indication that they will work to make our nation a safer place for preborn children, they are making it impossible for pro-life voters to support them.”
“They think it’s California’s ‘right’ to permit abortion up until birth, but if states like Arizona ban most abortions they ‘go too far,’” she said, concluding that “being less passionate about killing babies then [sic] Harris/Walz is not enough.”
