Former Vice President Mike Pence called on every 2024 Republican candidate to support a 15-week nationwide abortion ban, as former President Donald Trump has waffled on the issue.
Pence appeared Friday morning at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington, an annual gathering of Christian conservatives who should be the type of voter the ex-veep could attract – but only showed tepid support for his presidential bid.
Pence pointed out that he was speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling and argued that while ‘some of the people blame the overturning of Roe v. Wade for election losses in 2022’ the Republican Party should go futher.
‘So I want to say from my heart, every Republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks as a minimum nationwide standard,’ Pence said.
Trump has reportedly privately blamed the abortion issue for the Republicans’ subpar performance in the 2022 midterms and said last month on CNN he would ‘negotiate so people are happy,’ refusing to say if he’d support a federal ban.
Former Vice President Mike Pence called on every 2024 Republican candidate to support a 15-week nationwide abortion ban, as former President Donald Trump has waffled on the issue
On the other hand, Pence was happy to take credit for Roe’s downfall.
‘After a lifetime in the movement, you can probably imagine what a privilege it was for me to play some small role in the administration that appointed three of the justices, to join that majority returning the question of abortion to the states and the American people,’ Pence said at the Washington Hilton.
He cheered the ‘momentous anniversary’ but said there was more work to be done.
‘The battle for life is far from over,’ the former vice president said. ‘We’ve not come to the end of our cause.’
‘Now some you will hear from at this very podium will say that the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion only to the states and nothing should be done at the federal level. Others will say that continuing the fight to life and producing state legislation is too harsh,’ Pence said.
He then noted how ‘some’ believe Roe’s demise was responsible for the predicted Republican ‘red wave’ to turn into a small splash – as the party failed to retake the Senate, though flipped the House, but with a much smaller-than-expected majority.
‘Well let me say from my heart, the cause of life is the calling of our time and we must not rest and must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life into the center of American law in every state in this country,’ Pence said.
Pence said President Joe Biden and the Democrats needed to be held accountable for their ‘extreme position’ on abortion.
‘Democrats support abortion on-demand all the way up to the moment of birth and taxpayer funding of abortion and they need to be held to account,’ Pence said. ‘We need to support efforts in statehouses across the country to protect the unborn, support women facing crisis pregnancies with new and renewed resources.’
Pence suggested the U.S. needed to get more in line with European nations – and not China and North Korea – in terms of abortion, though European nations that limit abortion after 12 weeks generally allow women to terminate pregnancies for a broad sets of reasons, including their mental wellbeing and socioeconomic circumstances.
Most GOP-endorsed bans include exceptions only for the health of the mother, rape and incest – if even that.
During his appearance, Pence touted his work alongside Trump, which earned applause.
‘Thank you for the privilege of serving as your vice president, it was the greatest honor. And I’ll always be grateful for what President Donald Trump did for this country. It was a privilege to serve at his side,’ Pence said.
‘The president and I have had our differences and we have them still but elections are about the future,’ also noted.
Pence and Trump had a falling out when the then-vice president wouldn’t help in the ex-president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Pence went ahead and certified Biden’s win on January 6, during the aftermath of the Capitol attack.
Trump announced in mid-November that he would run for the White House again.
Pence announced his own bid earlier this month.
‘I believe different times call for different leadership,’ Pence told the crowd Friday.
The pronouncement was met with silence.
At other times when he mentioned his presidential bid, the conservative audience responded with scattered applause.
