Former Vice President Mike Pence pushed back Monday against concerns about the political feasibility of pro-life restrictions as prominent members of his party expressed caution.
NewsNation host Chris Stirewalt had asked, “What do you say to Republicans who say if we go where we think is right – where you say is correct – we’re going to pay a political price?”
Pence responded by saying he thought that “defending the unborn first and foremost is more important than politics. I really believe it’s the calling of our time.”
He added that “it may take as long to restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country as it took us to overturn Roe v. Wade, but I believe that restoring the inalienable right to life to American law is that important.” Pence also touted the Trump administration’s nomination of three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe.
Pence has long been an outspoken proponent for life. Ahead of oral arguments in Dobbs, gave a speech thoroughly denouncing Roe and abortion’s impact on the country. “The truth is nothing has been more destabilizing in our society for the last 50 years than legalized abortion … I believe it’s no coincidence that the last half century has seen a persistent rise in family instability, single-parent households, a decline in family formation, increase in unplanned pregnancies, and an explosion in sexually transmitted disease,” Pence said at a press conference in 2021.
He was also one of the few Republican politicians to speak out after a Texas court blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.
“The FDA acted carelessly and with blatant disregard for human life and the well-being of American women, and today’s ruling fixed a 20 year wrong,” he said.
Other Republicans eventually filed an amicus brief in support of that decision. As Live Action News recently noted, however, Republicans have shied away from national protections as the conservative movement debated how far states should push post-Roe restrictions.
As states continue debating pro-life protections, the pro-abortion Society for Family Planning released data indicating they result in tangible lives saved. More specifically, the group released data showing a drastic reduction (32,260 fewer or an average of about 5,000 per month) in the number of abortions following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs. There has been speculation the number is actually higher and, as is usually the case, the data didn’t capture illegal procedures. Nonetheless, it indicated that pro-life policies have save large numbers of human lives from the abortionists’ instruments.
The question for some is whether those life-saving protections can be sustained and whether present pro-life advocacy will doom future attempts to protect preborn children. “Pro-life zealots are going to get a national Roe v. Wade and lots more babies killed by forcing Republicans to lose election after election,” tweeted Coulter. “But at least they’ll feel good about themselves!”
Congress has seen dueling attempts to legislate abortion access at the federal level. After Dobbs, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would ban abortions at 15 weeks, which is the limit set by the law challenged in Dobbs.
Congressional Democrats, along with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), have already started pushing for the codification of Roe, which would invalidate state laws and effectively allow abortion up to birth due to certain loopholes as were present in Roe and Doe. It is unclear, however, whether that would survive a challenge by the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly framed abortion as an issue for state legislatures.
