The first Republican presidential debate is fast approaching on Aug. 23, when candidates will hope to close the gap on former President Donald Trump and separate from the rest of the pack. In this series, Up For Debate, the Washington Examiner will look at a key issue or policy every day up until debate day and where key candidates stand. Today’s story will examine abortion.
Abortion has already splintered the GOP primary field, giving candidates a talking point when it comes to distinguishing themselves in the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
In many issues, analysts see the field as divided into Trump and non-Trump categories, but candidates have positioned themselves on the abortion debate on a scale of whether there is a federal role in it or whether it is a state issue.
UP FOR DEBATE: TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND 2024 GOP HOPEFULS’ STANCE ON THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
For those who see a federal responsibility to act, there is a divide on whether a president will practically be able to enact anti-abortion legislation with a divided Congress.
Anti-abortion interest group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America condemned presidential hopeful and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for his statements to Megyn Kelly in an interview in July.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said there is a national consensus for a 15-week abortion ban based upon a fetus’s ability to feel pain, arguing that “the pro-life movement and the American people deserve a president who will boldly advocate this consensus and will work to gather the votes necessary in Congress.”
Earning SBA Pro-Life America’s title of “National Defender of Life” is already a key issue in the first presidential election season in the post-Roe era.
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
Just as Trump has not committed to participating in the first RNC debate of the 2024 presidential season, so too has he not clearly articulated his position on the federal role in abortion.
Trump takes credit for being “able to kill Roe v. Wade” after having appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who overruled federal constitutional protections for abortion. On the anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Trump said the federal government has a “vital role … in protecting unborn life” but failed to provide specifics.
He has, however, been critical of six-week abortion bans, calling DeSantis’s abortion legislation passed in Florida “too harsh.” Trump also chided fellow Republicans for their hard-line stance on abortion as being the primary reason for their lack of success in the 2022 midterm elections.
When asked whether he would sign a six-week abortion ban at the federal level, Trump responded, “I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives.”
UP FOR DEBATE: TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND 2024 GOP HOPEFULS’ STANCE ON SPENDING AND DEBT
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL)
Although DeSantis has touted his six-week abortion ban in Florida, DeSantis says that he would “always come down on the side of life” as president but is not hopeful in the possibility of achieving similar federal limits to the procedure.
Today we celebrate the anniversary of the Dobbs decision.
Florida is proof that with bold leadership we can expand pro-life protections & provide more resources for mothers and families.
I will always champion a culture of life.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 24, 2023
“I think the states have the primary jurisdiction,” DeSantis told Kelly last week. “I think there is a federal interest, but I think the reality is that the country is divided on it.”
DeSantis added he does not “have much confidence Congress is going to do anything meaningful in this regard” and that, at least for the time being, anti-abortion advocates will need to rely on differences in the states to enact abortion restrictions.
HOW DEBATE CAN BE MAKE OR BREAK FOR CANDIDATES
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC)
Scott has clearly advocated a national 15-week abortion ban “to stop blue states from pushing abortion on demand,” adding that “without life, nothing matters.”
Republicans should not be retreating on life. We need a national 15-week limit to stop blue states from pushing abortion on demand.@sbaprolife defends the most fundamental right: life. Without life, nothing else matters. It’s not a special interest. It’s the only interest.
— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) July 31, 2023
To get national legislation, however, Scott has emphasized the need to foster a healthy national dialogue about the “culture of life.”
“We won’t see legislation like that come through Congress if we don’t first win the hearts and minds of the American people,” Scott said in an NBC interview in May. “If we don’t have that conversation, if all we’re gonna do is demonize folks, we won’t get there.”
FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA GOV. AND U.N. AMBASSADOR NIKKI HALEY
Haley’s campaign has emphasized women’s issues, including abortion and transgender debates, from a feminine perspective.
Although Haley said she sees room for federal action on late-term abortion bans, protections for children born alive during failed abortions, and federal support for mothers and adoption, she does not think a federal ban on abortion is feasible.
The Dobbs decision was a victory for life and democracy. As a result, states have passed life-saving laws and helped promote a culture of life across the nation. The fight is far from over.
There should be broad consensus at the federal level to end late-term abortion, make…
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) June 24, 2023
“As a practical matter, you only achieve consensus when you have a House majority, a 60-vote Senate majority, and a president who are all in alignment. We are nowhere close to reaching that point,” Haley said during a speech for SBA Pro-Life America in April.
“They know as well as anyone that no Republican president will have the ability to ban abortion nationwide, just as no Democratic president can override the laws of all 50 states,” Haley said. “It’s just not going to happen.”
VIVEK RAMASWAMY
An “unapologetically pro-life” candidate, Ramaswamy has said abortion is a “human rights issue” and supports state-level abortion bans after six weeks’ gestation due to the presence of fetal electrical brain activity.
I’m unapologetically pro-life. It’s not a woman’s rights issue, it’s a human rights issue.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) April 13, 2023
“Life ends right when … brainwaves end — that’s how we determine when life ends on the back end,” Ramaswamy said in an interview in April. “I think we should apply a consistent principle on the front end — that’s around the six-week mark that brainwaves do begin.”
At the same time, however, Ramaswamy does not support federal involvement in regulating the procedure.
“This is not an answer for the president because I think the federal government should be out of this,” Ramaswamy said in July. “But if you’re a governor or you’re dealing within the states, I can share with you my opinion.”
OTHERS
Former Vice President Mike Pence responded to SBA Pro-Life America’s call for an anti-abortion president, saying that “pro-life Americans will have a champion in the White House” when he is president.
When I am President, #ProLife Americans will have a champion in the White House! In the Dobbs decision, the question of abortion was returned to the states AND the American people. I will always champion protections for the unborn in states across the Country and in our Nation’s…
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) July 31, 2023
In an interview in April, Pence reiterated his anti-abortion stance, saying he would also like to see the abortion pill mifepristone “off the market” because it has “caused great harm for women across the country.”
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Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said abortion will not be a priority for voters in 2024 but has also made clear that he will sign any federal abortion legislation that has exceptions for rape and incest.
Both former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) have expressed they believe abortion policy belongs solely in the states.
