Former Vice President Mike Pence laid out his version of an abortion litmus test as his 2024 rivals descend on the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference on Friday, one day before the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Pence has called for a minimum 15-week abortion ban at the federal level, a policy that goes further than some of the other 2024 candidates running for president, including his onetime boss, former President Donald Trump, who has refused to say he would support a federal abortion ban.
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“Every Republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks as a minimum nationwide standard,” Pence said.
Republicans have struggled to articulate a cohesive message on abortion after experts blamed it as one reason the GOP had a disappointing outcome during the 2022 midterm elections.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) previously tripped up when questioned about his abortion views as he runs for president. Trump called Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) six-week ban in Florida “too harsh.” But he has simultaneously bragged that his nomination of three Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, paved the way for the high court to overturn Roe.
“One year ago tomorrow, we will mark the first anniversary of the day that a conservative majority on the Supreme Court of the United States sent Roe v. Wade to the ashes of history,” Pence said as he listed moments in his career in which he championed anti-abortion policies.
“The battle for life is from over,” he added.
Democrats have pounced on the GOP’s perceived vulnerability on abortion. The Democratic National Committee launched a six-figure ad buy in battleground states over the importance of abortion in the 2024 election. President Joe Biden will make abortion policy key to his own reelection bid.
Yet Pence is undeterred by the onslaught of Democratic messaging.
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In a reference to candidates who are skittish on abortion policy, Pence said they would argue that “the Supreme Court returned the abortion issue only to the states, that nothing should be done at the federal level.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in particular, has argued that states, not the government, should decide on abortion.
“But 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 in the center of American law,” he said.
