Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has been revamping how he talks about abortion amid widespread speculation that he could be chosen as former President Trump’s running mate.
Like Trump, who is expected to announce his vice presidential pick this weekend, Vance has tried to show he can moderate the issue.
He previously applauded the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Wade and supported Texas’ abortion ban, which does not allow exceptions beyond cases where the mother’s life is at risk.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said in 2021 when asked whether abortion laws should allow exceptions for rape and incest.
When voters in his home state approved a constitutional amendment that protected abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, Vance called it a “punch in the gut.”
But Vance has more recently praised and repeated Trump’s position that states can make their own abortion laws and that there need to be exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
In a July 7 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Vance called Trump a “pragmatic leader” for his approach of leaving it up to the states.
This contrasts with his Senate campaign, when Vance said during a 2022 debate that “some minimum national standards are completely acceptable to me.”
In the same “Meet the Press” interview, Vance also said he supports mifepristone “being affordable,” even though many conservatives want to ban the drug.
“The Supreme Court made a decision saying that the American people should have access to this medicine. Donald Trump supported that view, I support that view,” Vance said.
Vance was referring to comments made by Trump during the presidential debate last month, when he said he agreed with the Supreme Court and would not block access to mifepristone if he returned to the Oval Office.
Last month, the court rejected a challenge to expanding access to mifepristone for lack of standing. But the decision was only procedural and left open the possibility of future lawsuits brought by different plaintiffs.
The change of stance by Vance, a critic turned Trump supporter, is emblematic of the Republican Party’s complicated relationship with abortion, as the party struggles to get on the same page just days before the start of the Republican National Convention.
“I think the entire Republican Party is adjusting its messaging in a post-Roe world,” said Mark Weaver, a veteran Ohio Republican strategist.
Weaver said Vance is positioning himself to be Trump’s running mate, “and if Trump comes knocking, JD Vance will be dressed up and ready to go.”
But as the party is still trying to figure out how best to talk about abortion, “there is nothing lost in this adventure” if Vance is not chosen, Weaver said.
In fact, much of the Republican Party is embracing Trump’s position: the party’s formal platform does not explicitly call for a national abortion ban, nor does it explicitly call for legislation granting equal rights to the fetus.
Instead, it assumes that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution already grants fetal personhood and says that states can pass laws to that effect.
The debate over fetal personhood has been particularly complicated for Republicans who have tried to reconcile their support for access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the views of some Christian conservatives who argue that fertilized embryos, often discarded in the IVF process, vitro, should be treated like people.
Although anti-abortion and religious groups said they thought the platform had been watered down, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), another potential pick for vice president, defended the change.
“I think our platform should reflect our nominee, and our nominee’s position is grounded in reality,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Trump has moved cautiously on the abortion issue as he and other Republicans try to placate their base without losing moderate Republicans and independents.
Trump has faced relentless political attacks from Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade in 2022. Trump nominated three of the justices whose votes triggered the overturn of the historic ruling protecting access to abortion.
The former president said states should be allowed to enact individual abortion laws through legislatures or voter referenda, calling it a “beautiful thing to watch” as some states enshrine the right to abortion and others enact restrictive bans. no exceptions.
He criticized states that he considers go too far in banning abortion, such as Florida and Arizona. But as president, his administration also threatened to cut California’s federal funding unless it dropped the state’s requirement that private health insurers cover abortion.
There have been no explicit campaign promises from Trump on abortion, but it has been a clear issue of focus as Trump mulls a pick for vice president.
When asked about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as a potential pick, Trump told Fox News Radio on Wednesday that “it’s a problem” that Burgum has signed a near-total abortion ban.
“You know, I think Doug is great. But it’s strong, he took a very strong stance, or the state took it, I don’t know if it’s Doug, but the state took it, so it’s a problem,” Trump said.
Vance apparently doesn’t have that baggage. As one Ohio Democratic strategist said, this is by design.
“If you want to know where JD Vance stands on anything, ask Donald Trump,” said Jeff Rusnak, head of Ohio-based R Strategy Group. “His position on reproductive rights has nothing to do with understanding where the population is and what voters believe. It’s all about ‘How can I appeal to Trump?’”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
