Sen. J.D. Vance appears to have moderated his stance on abortion since joining Donald Trump’s ticket.
The Ohio Republican now says that if a federal abortion ban passed Congress, a Trump-Vance administration would ‘absolutely commit’ to vetoing such legislation.
It’s a sharp u-turn from what Vance said just two-and-a-half years ago.
Four months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and sent abortion laws back to the states, the now Republican vice-presidential nominee said he would be open to a nationwide regulation.
‘I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally,’ Vance said during a podcast in January 2022, when he was running for his Senate seat.
Now, Vance has moved more toward the center on the issue and told NBC’s Meet the Press in a pre-taped interview that aired on Sunday that their ticket doesn’t want a ‘nonstop federal conflict over this issue.’
Democrats spent every day at their National Convention in Chicago, Illinois last week slamming Republicans for the Supreme Court ruling and claiming that a Trump presidency would push the restrictions on abortion even further.
Americans with horror stories about abortion rights and restrictions spoke on stage at the United Center last week.
One woman talked about the need for an abortion at 12-years-old after her step father raped her. And another couple shared their story about the mother almost losing her life because of a nonviable pregnancy that she could not abort due to her state’s restrictions.
‘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 host Kristen Welker asked the VP contender.
‘I can absolutely commit to that, Kristen. Donald Trump has been as clear on that as possible.’
He explained: ‘Donald Trump wants to end this cultural war over this particular topic. If California wants to have a different abortion policy from Ohio than Ohio has to respect California and California has to respect Ohio.’
‘If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump’s desk, would he veto it?’ Welker pressed.
‘I think he would,’ the senator replied. ‘He said that explicitly that he would.’
Vance said a main reason that abortion should be left up to the states is so that the federal government can focus on overarching, existential issues like inflation, the economy, border security and U.S. involvement in foreign wars.
Many issues are handled this way in the U.S. For example, gun laws and firearms regulations differ from state to state despite it being legal to own these weapons at the federal level and even protected by the Constitution.
Since the Supreme Court 2022 Dobbs decision, the fate of abortion laws have been up in the air.
Democrats have sounded the alarm on the decision ever since and say it will be used by Republicans to impose a federal ban that would severely restrict the ability for a woman to terminate her pregnancy.
Trump repeatedly has said he does not have any plans to impose federal level restrictions or regulations on abortion – but Democrats don’t believe him.
And some Republicans, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham are pushing for a federal ban and say they will continue to press Trump – or any GOP administration – to impose laws at the national level.