Pro-life leaders react to JD Vance's vow Trump won't sign abortion ban
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance has sparked criticism for vowing that former President Donald Trump won’t sign a federal abortion ban, becoming the latest example of the campaign facing pushback from pro-life activists over the contentious issue.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, host Kristen Welker asked Vance if he would “commit” that a Trump-Vance administration “will not impose a federal ban on abortion.”
In response, Vance assured, “I can absolutely commit to that.”
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“Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible,” he added. “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 added. "Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue. The federal government ought to be focused on getting food prices down, getting housing prices down."
“I think Donald Trump is right. We want the federal government to focus on these big economic and immigration questions,” he stressed. “Let the states figure out their own abortion policies.”
When the "Meet the Press" host brought up efforts by congressional Republicans to pass a 15-week abortion ban and asked if Trump would veto such legislation, Vance reiterated the former president’s opposition to the idea and replied, “If you’re not supporting it as the president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it.”
Welker pressed Vance again about whether Trump would “veto a federal abortion ban.” Vance reiterated his point, asserting, “I think he would, he’s said that explicitly.”
Vance’s remarks didn't sit well with some pro-life activists and Christian leaders. Lila Rose, president of the pro-life advocacy group Live Action, reacted to the interview in an X post sharing a clip from the interview declaring, “If you don’t stand for pro-life principles, you don’t get pro-life votes.”
In a subsequent post on X Monday, Rose added, “Due to their increasingly pro-abortion, Trump/Vance is stretching the lesser of two evils strategy to an untenable position. 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.”
Rose maintained that “being less passionate about killing babies than Harris/Walz is not enough,” referring to the Democratic presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s unapologetic support for abortion. In 2023, Walz signed a bill lifting requirements that abortionists must provide care for babies born alive during an attempted abortion.
Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life group Students for Life of America, offered her analysis of Vance’s comments in a post on X on Sunday. “It’s like they are giving a class on how to lose a presidential election,” she remarked while sharing a link to an article about the interview. She described the position embraced by the Trump-Vance ticket as “cowardly, immoral, and politically stupid.”
Andrew Walker, an ethics and public theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina, wrote in a post on X Sunday that he shares the views of the most notable pro-life activists. “Trump-Vance are wrong on abortion and wrong on the veto topic,” he asserted.
“Yet, we should be clear-eyed about something: No side has the votes at the federal level to make any of their wishes come true. Even if the filibuster were gone, there wouldn’t even be 50 Republican votes for federal legislation since many Republicans take a federalist approach.”
Walker’s analysis reflects the fact that because of what is known as the filibuster rule, most legislation requires 60 votes to pass the U.S. Senate, where there are 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans. Even if Republicans were to retake control of the Senate in the 2024 election, they would likely remain short of 60 votes in the chamber.
Although Republicans could attempt to abolish the filibuster so legislation can pass with a simple majority, plans for a federal abortion ban hasn't generated enthusiasm among Senate Republicans. When Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a 15-week abortion ban in late 2022, it only secured nine co-sponsors despite the fact that Republicans held 50 Senate seats. The bill never came up for a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Even before Vance’s vow that Trump would veto a national abortion ban, the Republican presidential ticket had come under fire after the former president sent out a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday proclaiming: “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.”
The phrase “reproductive rights” is often used as a euphemism for abortion by pro-abortion activists.
Rose shared a screenshot of Trump’s post about “reproductive rights” on X, commenting, “There is no reproductive right to kill a child.”
Although the Trump-Vance ticket’s latest remarks about abortion have invited criticism, Trump has consistently expressed support for deciding abortion law at the state level since releasing his official position on the issue in April.
Abortion remains at the forefront of American politics following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Since the Dobbs ruling, several states have implemented laws restricting abortion to the earliest weeks of pregnancy and, in some cases, imposing a near-total ban on the procedure.
Voters in four states over the past two years have approved referendums establishing a right to abortion in their respective state constitutions. Abortion-related questions are expected to appear before voters in several states this November.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
