Safeguarding unborn children from abortion “is profoundly more important than any short-term politics,” former Vice President Mike Pence declared in a recent interview.
Pence urged his fellow Republicans to exhibit “resolve, here and now, that we will not shrink from the fight” for anti-abortion legislation. His remarks come as Republicans have splintered over Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) recent proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of gestation.
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“My consistent message will be to legislators and to governors around the country, and the leaders here in Washington, D.C., is to by all means advance the cause of life,” Pence told RealClearPolitics in an interview. “[Conservatives must] recognize that it may take us as long to restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state as it took us to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
The former Vice President is on board with GOP proposals to ban abortion nationally and at the state level. Graham has fomented grousing among some conservatives such as Roger Stone who argued the 15-week ban would be an electoral boon for Democrats as Republicans slog to recapture control of the Senate.
Graham unveiled the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act on Tuesday, which includes exceptions for instances of rape, incest, and instances of medical emergencies to the mother.
Some of his colleagues, including Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have poured cold water on the proposal, suggesting Republicans should relegate the fraught matter to the states.
“The inalienable right to life is enshrined in our founding documents,” Pence continued, “and however long I have left in the public debate, or on this earth, I’m going to be a part of advancing the cause of life all across this nation.”
As Republicans grapple with the blowback from the overturning of Roe v. Wade over the summer, Pence believes they should seek to put Democrats on defense, echoing sentiments in a recent Republican National Committee memo advising Republicans on midterm election messaging.
“Anyone looking for extremism ought to be looking to the position that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have taken on abortion,” Pence said, accusing President Joe Biden of supporting “abortion all the way up to the moment of birth.”
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During the interview, Pence also appeared to diverge from Justice Clarence Thomas, who gave a concurrence in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that sent abortion back to legislatures.
In his concurrence, Thomas argued that the court should revisit the concept of substantive due process, which served as the basis for other Supreme Court precedents guaranteeing a right to contraception and gay marriage.
“I have enormous respect for Justice Clarence Thomas but the majority on the Supreme Court in the Dobbs case made it clear,” Pence told RealClearPolitics, “the decision was about abortion.”
Pence has recently made trips to New Hampshire and Iowa to back local candidates, sparking speculation that he has 2024 ambitions.
