Where J.D. Vance stands on abortion

Senator J.D. Vance

Donald Trump selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate at last night’s Republican convention. The 2nd year Senator is known for his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” But his rapid political ascent puts a spotlight on J.D. Vance’s position on abortion.

Here’s what Senator Vance said on Face the Nation on May 19th, 2024:

“… what I’ve said consistently is the gross majority of policy here is gonna be set by the states. I am pro-life. I wanna save as many babies as possible. And sure, I think it’s totally reasonable to say that late term abortions should not happen with reasonable exceptions. But I think Trump’s approach here is trying to settle a very tough issue and actually empower the American people to decide it for themselves.”

In a Senate race debate in October of 2022, Vance said he was “totally fine … with some minimum national standard” of abortion regulation, although he hedged on whether he agreed with Lindsay Graham’s proposed abortion ban at 15 weeks. Said Vance:

“My view on this is, generally speaking, Ohio’s gonna wanna have different abortion laws than California, than Texas, and I think Ohio should have that right.”

J.D. Vance’s position on abortion was most impassioned in opposing a pro-abortion Ohio ballot initiative which cancelled all abortion restrictions:

“They will say this is all about freedom: ‘It’s all about freedom. We just want people to have the freedom.’

It was never about freedom. They were pressured into it, sometimes from a boyfriend or, God forbid, a parent. They felt like they didn’t have any options. They were worried that if they brought a baby into the world, they wouldn’t be able to take care of it. Well, we are here to say that there is a choice: We need to choose life, and we need to fight for life.

What does it say about a society, what does it say about our country when we tell young moms and young dads that everything comes before their own children? If there’s somebody out there telling you that what’s in your best interest is to get rid of your own baby, they do not have your best interests at heart. They are not on your team.

For 50 years in this country, unborn babies were cast aside. We told our society that everything — that education, that jobs and everything was more important than the most vulnerable people in our society. It was a mistake, and we did it for 50 years.

Why is it that every single time you have one of these radical abortion amendments, it’s always funded by the most powerful out-of-state interests in our country?

At last night’s Republican convention, he said:

“My view is that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, and his views on abortion are going to be the views that dominate this party and drive this party forward.

Alabama’s going to make a different decision from California. That is a reasonable thing. And that’s how I think we build some bridges and have some respect for one another.”

[Support our pro-life educational outreach. Your gift will help us spread a culture of life.]