Republican presidential hopefuls were divided in the first primary debate in Milwaukee Wednesday over the key question of whether they would push for a national abortion limit as president in a post-Roe America. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott backed a minimum 15-week abortion limit, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley saw that stance as unrealistic, given the current makeup of Congress. 

“When it comes to a federal ban, let’s be honest with the American people and say it will take 60 Senate votes; it will take a majority of the House,” Haley said. “So, in order to do that, let’s find consensus.”

Pence challenged Haley, saying, “Nikki, you’re my friend, but consensus is the opposite of leadership,” and “when the Supreme Court returned this question to the American people, they didn’t just send it to the states only. It’s not a states-only issue. It’s a moral issue.” 

A Harvard Harris survey conducted in June 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned found that 72% of voters, including 60% of Democratic voters, thought their state should not allow abortion past 15 weeks. Knights of Columbus-Marist polling from January 2023 found that 69% of voters would limit abortion to, at most, the first three months of pregnancy. Gallup polling from 2018 dating back to 1996 consistently has found that only 24%-28% of Americans support abortion in the second trimester.

“Can’t we have a minimum standard in every state in the nation that says: When a baby is capable of feeling pain, an abortion cannot be allowed,” Pence continued, adding that “a 15-week ban is an idea whose time has come. It’s supported by 70% of the American people, but it’s going to take unapologetic leadership.”

Haley responded, saying that “when you’re talking about a federal ban, be honest with the American people” that “we haven’t had 45 pro-life senators in over a hundred years. So no Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democrat president could ban all those state laws. Don’t make women feel like they have to decide on this issue when you know we don’t have 60 Senate votes.”

 

Lack of Pro-Life Votes

While Haley may have a point about a lack of pro-life votes in the Senate, John McCormack highlighted at National Review in May that there may be cause for concern about the fact that all of the Democrats in the Senate — with the exception of Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — have backed abolishing the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority to a simple 51-vote majority to push through pro-abortion legislation.

When asked whether he would advocate the six-week ban he signed into law in his state of Florida on the national level, Gov. Ron DeSantis did not answer directly, saying he would “stand on the side of life” and that he understood “Wisconsin is going to do it different than Texas. I understand Iowa and New Hampshire are going to do different, but I will support the cause of life as governor and as president.”

Debate moderator Martha MacCallum of Fox News then asked North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum about his stance against a federal ban on abortion when some states, like New York and Vermont, “allow abortion up until the time of birth.” 

Burgum, who signed a six-week abortion ban in North Dakota, cited the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment to back up his position that the issue should be left up to the states. “What is going to work in New York will never work in North Dakota — and vice versa,” he said. 

 

‘Extreme Position’

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who backed a national abortion limit at 15 weeks in April after previously saying the issue should be left to the states, pointed out that “the Supreme Court gave it back to the elected representatives, whether it’s the states or whether it’s the United States Congress,” so “there is authority, and that’s why President Biden is pushing for a Democrat proposal, which is, in essence, abortion on demand through the term. So they have their extreme position at a national level.”

This was in reference to the White House-backed Women’s Health Protection Act, which would lift most state restrictions on abortion, allowing virtually unlimited abortion with few exceptions. The measure would bar any restriction on abortion “prior to viability, including a prohibition or restriction on a particular abortion procedure,” and even any restriction “on abortion after viability when, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, it is necessary to protect the life or health of the patient.” In the bill, “viability” is left up to the abortion provider’s “good-faith medical judgment.”

Scott said, “We cannot let states like California, New York and Illinois have abortions on demand up until the day of birth. That is immoral. It is unethical; it is wrong. We must have a president of the United States who will advocate and fight for, at the minimum, a 15-week limit.” 

Not all the candidates that took the stage Wednesday in Milwaukee commented on the abortion issue. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did not weigh in on the debate stage, but told CNN in June that “the federal government should not be involved unless and until there’s a consensus around the country from the 50 states making their own decisions about what it should be,” regarding a national abortion limit.

Author and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also did not get his thoughts in on the issue Wednesday. His campaign told the Register in March that the issue should be left up to the states, and he has maintained that position in comments since.  

Former President Donald Trump did not participate in the debate Wednesday and instead was interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The abortion issue did not come up in their discussion. 

Trump initially indicated in April that the issue should be left to the states. Following backlash from pro-life groups, he stated in June that he believes the federal government has a “vital role” in protecting life, without specifying if he would support any national restrictions on abortion.