2024 Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley expressed her support for a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” The discussion revolved around the topic of a national ban on abortion and where to draw the line.
Host Shannon Bream referred to former Vice President Pence’s previous appearance on the show, where he called for a national ban on abortion at 15 weeks. Bream asked Haley about her stance on the issue and whether she believed a national ban was appropriate.
“So if you got a red wave in ’24 and you are President Haley, what would you agree if you had the votes? Where would you draw the line? Do you think a national ban is appropriate?” Bream asked.
Haley responded by emphasizing the importance of saving babies and supporting mothers. She suggested that finding consensus on the matter was crucial and that efforts should focus on encouraging quality adoptions and ensuring the availability of contraception.
In her words: “We need to look at this and say, how do we make sure we save as many babies as we can and support as many moms as we can. And so in order to do that, we’re gonna have to say how do we get 60 votes and I think that we should find consensus.”
“Consensus on the fact that let’s encourage more adoptions that are good quality adoptions, consensus on the fact that we should have contraception —that contraception should be available and consensus that no state law should put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty for having an abortion,” she added.
The Republican then indicated that if a federal ban were to garner the necessary 60 Senate votes, she would sign it, regardless of whether the threshold was set at 15 weeks.
These remarks come amidst an ongoing debate over abortion restrictions among Republican presidential candidates.
Senator Tim Scott, also from South Carolina, has expressed his support for a 15-week ban, while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson believes the issue should be handled by individual states unless a Republican supermajority is present in Congress.
Hutchinson, however, recently promised to sign any “pro-life bill that comes to me that sets reasonable restrictions, but also has the appropriate exceptions.”
Another GOP candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, recently signed a six-week ban in his state. Former President Donald Trump, however, suggested that the ban was “too harsh.” As of now, his exact plans regarding abortion laws are not known, even as DeSantis has accused him of “going soft” on abortion.
DeSantis hints at Trump going soft on abortion: ‘I thought he would compliment’ Florida Heartbeat bill https://t.co/3U39zu7kTu
— NoisyRoom (@terresamonroe) June 16, 2023
In May, Haley pledged her support for a federal ban on abortion. Speaking at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, the presidential candidate, however, pointed out the challenges of passing such a ban, citing the need for “a majority of the House, 60 senators and a president to sign it.”
