Abortion bans are shown to be a losing issue for Republican candidates and anti-abortion groups in post-Roe voter referendums when the issue is placed directly on the ballot. Coincidentally, a lot of Republican presidential candidates haven’t spent much time on the Iowa trail talking about bans, or they at least try to avoid getting connected to national bans, preferring instead to talk about generalities of being “pro-life.”
So where do GOP presidential candidates stand on the issue and what have they been telling Iowans while trying to woo caucus-goers?
Donald Trump
Donald Trump, the former president and GOP front-runner, has banked on the fact that he appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who were part of the decision that overturned Roe V Wade in June 2022.
“Last year, I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible—and you have to really think about this and study this because it’s very important—we ended Roe V Wade,” Trump said to cheers during his Sept. 20 rally in Dubuque.
“We did something that for 52 years people talked about, they spent vast amounts of money fighting it but they couldn’t get the job done … I got the job done. I got it done thanks to the three great Supreme Court justices—and others on the court—that I appointed,” he continued.
While simultaneously bragging about being the person responsible for the reversal of Roe nationally, Trump also attacked Florida governor and primary rival Ron DeSantis during an interview with “Meet the Press” that aired on Sept 17 for signing a six-week abortion ban.
“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said.
The bill DeSantis signed was similar to the one Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed earlier this summer, which prompted Reynolds—who has had a falling out with Trump—to subtweet the former president on her political account:
“It’s never a ‘terrible thing’ to protect innocent life. I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year,” she wrote.
It’s never a “terrible thing” to protect innocent life. I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year.
— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) September 19, 2023
In that same “Meet the Press” interview, Trump said he wants to bring “both sides” together on the issue. Local Iowa Democrats like state party chair Rita Hart, however, have kept up the reminders that Trump has shown he will do no such thing.
@iowastartingline Iowa Democrats Chair Rita Hart recapped Donald Trump’s history of trying to ban abortion, including sending food to Iowa Republican lawmakers during July’s special session to ban abortion. Follow us for more national politics. #iowa #iowadems #iowanews #reproductiverights #iowans
Ron DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference in May when he signed a bill to stop “woke investing.” However, a month earlier, he quietly signed a six-week abortion ban into law in the Sunshine State that he didn’t even bother to work into his Iowa stump speech.
In fact, his campaign site only mentions the word “abortion” once.
DeSantis has regularly called himself a “pro-life” candidate and told Tucker Carlson in July he would sign a national version of Florida’s six-week abortion if he were president.
However, much of DeSantis’ messaging around the issue on the trail hasn’t been about the ban he signed or a future proposal should he ever sit in the Oval Office. Instead, he talks about providing support to expectant mothers and using specific examples of legislation they’ve implemented in Florida, including expanded postpartum care, making baby items tax-free, and private-public partnerships.
Tim Scott
Unlike some of his counterparts, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has not shied away from abortion on the trail and has made it clear to Iowans that he supports a national abortion ban.
“I am 100% pro-life. When I am president of the United States, I will sign the most pro-life legislation the House and Senate can put on my desk,” Scott wrote in a July op-ed for the Des Moines Register.
He also reaffirmed this stance many times on the campaign trail in Iowa.
“I’m a pro-life conservative with a 100% pro-life voting record,” Scott said at an Oskaloosa event on Aug. 31. “As president of the United States, I would limit abortions in this country to 15 weeks.”
@iowastartingline Presidential hopeful Tim Scott shares his plan for a national abortion ban with Iowa voters during an event in Oskaloosa. #Iowa #IowaNews #gopprimary2024 #iacaucus #reproductiverights
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, a former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor, raised some eyebrows during the first GOP presidential primary debate when she said calls for a national abortion ban were unrealistic politically.
Haley notes that she is anti-abortion—she’s remarked on her husband being adopted and having experienced two difficult pregnancies—and says the issue is personal for every man and every woman and it should be treated that way.
“When we look at this situation, we finally took it away from unelected justices and put it back in the hands of the people—that’s where it should be,” Haley said at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Fall Banquet. “But the debate is whether there should be a federal law.
“And in order to pass a federal law, you have to have the majority of the House, 60—six-zero—Senate votes and the signature of a president. We haven’t had 60 Republicans in over a hundred years—we might have 45 pro-life senators—so no Republican can anymore ban abortions than a Democratic president can ban those state laws,” she continued.
Haley said her goal would be to stop as many abortions as possible and to help mothers. To accomplish this, she said she would bring people together on the common causes of banning late-term abortions, promoting quality adoptions, allowing doctors and nurses to opt out of performing abortion services, and not criminalizing women who receive abortion services.
“We have to humanize this issue if we ever want to pass it and do more,” Haley said.
Mike Pence
A good foundation of Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political career has been built on being against reproductive rights.
“I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it,” Pence said at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Fall Banquet.
He ran for Congress in 1996 for “the babies” and said he was the first person to introduce legislation to defund Planned Parenthood in the US House of Representatives.
As governor of Indiana, Pence signed HB 1337 into law, which enacted new abortion access restrictions and required that aborted fetuses be interned or cremated. The law was ultimately ruled unconstitutional.
On the trail, Pence has also supported a minimum national 15-week abortion ban.
@iowastartingline Former Vice President Mike Pence would implement a national 15-week abortion ban if elected president. #Iowa #IowaNews #iacaucus #gopprimary2024 #mikepence #reproductiverights
Pence has also boasted about being part of the Trump-Pence administration that eventually led to the toppling of Roe V Wade.
“We ought to ban abortion across America,” Pence said.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy was at the Iowa Capitol during the July special session to ban abortion in the state and said he met with Gov. Kim Reynolds that day.
During an Aug. 15 campaign stop in Newton, he called it a “historic” event.
“That’s federalism at work,” Ramaswamy said. “That is the constitution at work in this country.”
While he has not made it a focal point of his campaign, Ramaswamy has answered questions about his stance on abortion.
“I am firmly pro-life,” Ramaswamy said during a Q&A at his Newton stop.
According to the New York Times, Ramaswamy supports six-week abortion bans at the state level but does not support a national ban.
Chris Christie
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, has made zero campaign appearances in Iowa but told NBC he is a “pro-life” candidate who supports abortion exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
There are slightly conflicting reports on whether or not he supports some form of a national abortion ban. The New York Times cites Christie as saying he would support a national ban if all 50 states implemented a consensus ban, while that same NBC article from above cites him as saying it’s a state issue.
Asa Hutchinson
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is unabashedly in favor of restriction abortion rights.
“In Arkansas, I signed over 30 pro-life bills—Arkansas was known as the No. 1 pro-life state in the nation,” Hutchinson said at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner. “I did that as governor and let me tell you, if I’m president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. “
As far as a national ban goes, Hutchinson has told Iowans he supports the abortion ban that was passed here but thinks it should be left to the states unless there is a national consensus on restrictions and exceptions.
“That’s something we have to grab a consensus on in order to pass on a federal level, but I think they’ve addressed it well in Iowa,” he said during a media scrum at the 2023 Family Leadership Summit in July.
Photo credits:
Donald Trump, AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
Ron DeSantis, official campaign portrait
Nikki Haley, official campaign portrait
Mike Pence, Mike Pence Facebook
Vivek Ramaswamy, AP Photo/Reba Saldanha
Tim Scott, official US Senate photo
by Ty Rushing
09/25/23
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1 Comment on "What GOP presidential candidates are saying about abortion in Iowa"
Good article – would also like to see an article on what Democratic candidates for president are saying. RFK Jr, Marianne Williamson, and incumbent Joe Biden.