Ex-President prefers to remain vague
Pence challenges Trump on abortion
6/24/2023 5:21 am
Arch-conservative Christians in the USA would like to ban abortions completely, but this attitude is not popular in the country. Republican presidential candidate Pence is trying to put pressure on his former boss Trump on the issue.
It is a new declaration of war on Donald Trump: One year after the end of the nationwide basic right to abortion in the USA, Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence is openly challenging his rival on the subject. The former vice president told a conference of evangelical activists in Washington that every Republican presidential candidate should campaign for a nationwide ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.
“We must not rest and relax until we have put the sanctity of life back at the heart of American law in every state in this country,” said the arch-conservative politician and anti-abortion activist. “The fact is, today, the United States’ abortion laws are more in line with China and North Korea than with Western countries in Europe.”
With the demand for a federal law on abortion, Pence is particularly targeting his former boss and current rival as a presidential candidate, Donald Trump: The ex-president had provided the Supreme Court majority with the nomination of three constitutional judges during his term of office, which before A year ago the nationwide basic right to abortion overturned. The right-wing populist remains vague on the question of whether he would support a federal law banning or limiting abortions.
On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court reversed the landmark “Roe v. Wade” ruling, which enshrined a nationwide right to abortion in 1973, in a highly controversial decision. Numerous conservatively governed states subsequently banned abortions or severely restricted access. But some Republican politicians and conservative activists are now pushing for a federal law that would ban or at least limit abortion nationwide, including in states governed by Democrats that uphold abortion rights. Polls show, however, that a large part of the electorate is in favor of at least some access to abortions.
Hard line could alienate voters
The Democrats made protecting abortion rights one of their key campaign issues ahead of last November’s midterm elections — and they succeeded. Trump and other Republicans therefore fear that campaigning for an abortion law could damage them electorally. The topic is likely to play a major role again in the presidential and congressional elections in November 2024.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is also running for the Republican presidential candidacy and is considered Trump’s most dangerous challenger, referred to a law in his state at the Evangelical Conference in Washington that bans abortions after just six weeks. In doing so, he promoted a “culture of life,” said the 44-year-old. “It was the right thing to do – don’t let anyone tell you it wasn’t.”
Trump had criticized the law in Florida as “too tough”. The ex-president is speaking at the conference called “Road to Majority” on Saturday, which is attended by about 3,000 conservative evangelical Christians.