- By Kayla Epstein & Holly Honderich
- BBC Information
Picture supply, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Former US Vice-President Mike Pence has challenged his rivals within the Republican presidential discipline to help a 15-week nationwide abortion ban.
He informed a conservative gathering each Republican candidate for president ought to help 15 weeks “at least nationwide normal” on abortion.
Final yr the Supreme Court docket overturned the constitutional proper to abortion within the US.
Anti-abortion teams need to make a federal ban a key 2024 election challenge.
The chief of 1 such group, Marjorie Dannenfelser with Susan B Anthony Professional-Life America, has mentioned she’s going to oppose any presidential candidate who doesn’t embrace a 15-week nationwide ban.
She known as Mr Pence “the definition of an unapologetic pro-life chief”.
Mr Pence, who has lengthy made his evangelical religion central to his political id, is likely one of the few Republican candidates to have spoken unequivocally about his help for such a ban.
On Friday on the Religion & Freedom Coalition’s annual convention in Washington DC, Mr Pence mentioned: “Let me say from my coronary heart – the reason for life is the calling of our time and we should not relaxation and should not relent till we restore the sanctity of life to the centre of American legislation in each state on this nation.”
Opinion polls counsel a majority of Individuals again some type of authorized abortion entry, although public help for the process being authorized drops notably by the top of the second trimester of a being pregnant.
Some Republican candidates are cautious of backing a 15-week pledge.
A couple of within the celebration have argued that final yr’s rollback of abortion rights by the Supreme Court docket price them within the midterm elections.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is anticipated to make abortion a central challenge in his re-election marketing campaign.
About 25 million girls of child-bearing age dwell in a state with restricted or non-existent abortion providers for the reason that Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v Wade final June.
Sensing the political dangers, many Republican presidential candidates have skirted the problem of abortion bans.
Former President Donald Trump, whose conservative appointments to the Supreme Court docket paved the way in which for the US proper to abortion being overturned, has backed away from endorsing a particular nationwide ban.
Former South Carolina Governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley has known as a federal ban unimaginable.
Additional complicating issues for contenders is the anti-abortion motion doesn’t agree on what a nationwide ban ought to appear to be.
For instance, College students for Life America is campaigning for a six-week ban – earlier than most ladies know they’re pregnant – and with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Voters are additionally break up on the problem. A February PRRI ballot advised that 44% of Individuals would help a 15-week ban on abortion, whereas 52% opposed such a legislation.
A federal abortion ban would additionally must move each chambers of Congress – and Republican efforts to move such a legislation have failed previously.
