(LifeSiteNews) — “I can absolutely commit that,” there will not be a federal abortion ban, Senator J.D. Vance said over the weekend.
“Can you commit, senator, 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’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker asked the Ohio Republican.
Vance went on to say that “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 said.
However, Ohio and California both have legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
Vance continued:
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. Issues, of course, where Kamala Harris has been a total disaster. 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 policies.
Welker asked Vance about a potential abortion ban from Senator Lindsey Graham. The moderate South Carolina Republican reportedly told Welker, “I’m going to keep saying that there should be a federal ban.” This refers to a 15-week abortion ban. A federal prohibition at 15 weeks would protect around 7% percent of babies, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump’s desk, would he veto it,” Welker asked.
“Well, I think it would be very clear he would not support it. I mean, he’s said that explicitly,” Vance said.
He again said Trump rejects any “federal minimum standard.” This view effectively means California, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, New York, and Minnesota can have abortion through all nine months of pregnancy without any limits.
JD Vance says Donald Trump will veto any federal protections for preborn babies. pic.twitter.com/2wl48O7zmQ
— Matt Lamb (@MattLamb22) August 26, 2024
“Donald Trump disagrees with Lindsey Graham on this. But no Republican, at least no Republican with any reasonable power, is saying that we should have a complete national abortion ban,” Vance said. “I haven’t heard that from any of my colleagues. And to be clear, 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.”
Trump the day prior to the interview had said his administration “will be great for women and their [so-called] reproductive rights,” using language employed by leftist activists.
The comments reflect statements Vance made shortly before being selected as Trump’s running mate.
“On the question of the abortion pill, what’s so many of us have said … the Supreme Court made a decision saying that the American people should have access to that medication, Donald Trump has supported that opinion, I support that opinion,” Senator Vance said, also on Meet the Press, discussing the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine decision.
“I think it’s important to say that we actually have to have an important conversation in this country about what our abortion policy should be,” Vance said.
“Donald Trump is the pragmatic leader here. He’s saying most abortion policy is going to be decided by the states,” Vance said. “We want to make it easier and more affordable for young women and parents to have families to begin with, we want to lower housing costs, eliminate those surprise medical bills that so many families see after they have a baby. That’s the Trump and Republican approach to this issue.”
Vance has previously expressed opposition to abortion, however.
Vance announced his conversion to Catholicism in 2019 and described himself as “100 percent pro-life” and has previously made strong statements on abortion, such as insisting on the right to life of unborn children conceived in rape and incest.
“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance said during an interview in 2021.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Vance said.
In 2022 during a debate in the lead-up to his election to the US senate Vance said that he has “always believed in reasonable exceptions” for allowing an abortion, but did not expand on what those exceptions would be.
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