Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday called on his rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination to pledge their support for a minimum 15-week federal ban on abortion.
Speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference in Washington, D.C., Mr. Pence said the overturning of Roe v. Wade is just the beginning of the fight for life.
“Abortion law in the United States is more aligned with China and North Korea than with Western nations in Europe,” Mr. Pence said. “So I want to say from my heart, every Republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks as a minimum nationwide standard.”
Mr. Pence is leaning on the issue of abortion as a way to distance himself from former President Donald Trump and some of his other rivals in the Republican nomination race.
Mr. Trump faced blowback from social and religious conservatives after he partially blamed the GOP’s setbacks in the 2022 midterms on candidates who promoted stricter abortion laws.
Mr. Pence said the anniversary of overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established a constitutional right to abortion is a chance to “remember the battle for life is far from over.”
The former vice president said some of the candidates running for the 2024 election want to leave the issue to the states to decide, and some believe nothing should be done at the federal level.
“Some have even gone on to blame the overturning of Roe v. Wade for election losses in 2022,” Mr. Pence said, taking a jab at Mr. Trump. “But let me say from my heart the cause of life is the calling of our time, and we must not rest and must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country.”
Mr. Pence told attendees the 2024 election offers them the chance to hold President Biden and Democrats accountable for their misguided policies and to elect a new leader.
“I do believe this moment in the life of our nation will require new leadership in the Republican Party and in the White House,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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