From left to proper: former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. Republican applicants proceed to be pressed on abortion rights at the marketing campaign path.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
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Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
From left to proper: former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. Republican applicants proceed to be pressed on abortion rights at the marketing campaign path.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
Most likely no factor is thornier for the 2024 Republican presidential number one applicants than abortion.
Republicans extensively cheered the 2022 Very best Courtroom determination, Dobbs v. Jackson Girls’s Well being, that overturned Roe v. Wade. However since then, they have got discovered that going too a long way on abortion restrictions could be a political legal responsibility.
The Dobbs determination and next state-level rules proscribing abortion get admission to galvanized citizens who strengthen abortion rights. Each and every state poll measure on abortion rights since Dobbs has pop out in prefer of abortion rights, even in purple states like Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio.
On best of that, the GOP’s opposition to abortion rights has been blamed for Republican underperformance within the 2022 midterms, and November’s elections in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio.
Consequently, Republican presidential applicants are making an attempt a balancing act: the right way to enchantment to a birthday party base that, to various levels, opposes abortion rights, with out alienating moderates, independents and basic election citizens who prefer fewer restrictions. The end result has been many vast statements about “protective existence,” with out numerous specifics about precisely what restrictions applicants prefer.
As an example, former President Donald Trump, the main Republican candidate, has dodged the query of whether or not he helps a federal abortion ban, to not point out what sort of gestational limits he helps.
In the meantime, Democrats see protective abortion rights no longer best as an ethical crucial however so as to force citizens to the polls in 2024. Abortion rights advocates are operating to place measures protective get admission to to the process onto ballots in 2024 in different swing states, within the hopes of energizing citizens.
President Biden hasn’t ever been a passionate crusader for abortion rights. However since Dobbs, he has been extra prepared to marketing campaign at the factor. The query is how a lot it continues to force citizens in 2024, and to what level different problems – issues concerning the economic system, Biden and Trump’s age, international conflicts – take over the dialog.
Does the candidate strengthen a federal abortion ban?
The top-profile query on abortion that applicants face is whether or not they would again a federal abortion ban. Prior to he dropped out of the race, former Vice President Mike Pence challenged his competition to signal directly to a 15-week federal ban, and a number of other did. (Applicants have given a variety of solutions on what number of weeks the cutoff for the sort of ban can be; this is addressed in any other phase under.)
Trump has been specifically evasive at the query, then again. He has been requested a few federal ban a number of instances, and whilst he hasn’t ever mentioned “no” outright, he has additionally regularly refused to again a federal abortion ban.
That mentioned, he as soon as did again a federal ban – all the way through the 2016 marketing campaign, he promised to signal a 20-week federal ban if it got here to his table as president, and in 2018, President Trump driven Congress to cross the sort of ban.
So what gestational limits, if any, does the candidate strengthen?
Since Dobbs, states have handed plenty of rules about how a lot to limit abortion, giving applicants many alternatives to both reward or criticize a variety of restrictions. As well as, one of the vital applicants signed abortion bans as governors or supported restrictions as legislators. Underneath are the quite a lot of ranges of abortion restrictions that applicants both lately strengthen or have supported previously.
Does the candidate strengthen restrictions on medicine abortion?
Previous to the Dobbs determination, medicine abortion accounted for a majority of all abortions within the U.S. Since Dobbs, abortion rights activists had been serving to sufferers, together with the ones in states with tight restrictions, get get admission to to the drugs utilized in those abortions – misoprostol and mifepristone. One approach is to ship the drugs to sufferers in the course of the mail. In reaction, some states have handed rules making an attempt to restrict get admission to to these drugs.
The president has some energy to limit or enlarge get admission to to the drugs – Biden, as an example, signed an government order in early 2023 that safe get admission to to medicine abortion by means of telehealth appointments, and that still allowed pharmacies to distribute the drugs.
As president, Trump driven to limit medicine abortion all the way through the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the Very best Courtroom to require sufferers to consult with a physician to be able to obtain the drugs.
The applicants have mentioned little about whether or not and the way they’d hope to limit get admission to to the drugs as president. NPR reached out to all campaigns about their stance in this matter and has no longer won responses.
What about exceptions in terms of rape, incest or the lifetime of the pregnant individual?
Whilst Republicans most often oppose abortion rights, many consider there must be explicit circumstances during which a affected person must have vast abortion get admission to – particularly, when a being pregnant effects from rape or incest, or when an abortion would save a pregnant affected person’s existence.
The ones 3 exceptions are widespread a few of the Republican applicants, however some have supported or signed rules that both don’t comprise all 3 exceptions, or that comprise them to restricted extents. Nonetheless, the entire closing primary applicants agree in offering the ones widespread exceptions. However, there’s nuance amongst their positions.
- Gov. Doug Burgum, R-N.D., signed a near-total abortion ban in North Dakota that integrated very restricted exceptions for rape and incest, permitting sufferers of the ones crimes to get abortions best as much as six weeks of gestation. That regulation additionally allowed for abortion in circumstances that might save a affected person’s existence or save you critical clinical hurt.
- Former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., instructed Semafor in April 2023 that he helps exceptions in those 3 circumstances.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., signed a six-week abortion ban that integrated exceptions for rape and incest as much as 15 weeks if a affected person may supply documentation. The ban additionally contained an exception to save lots of a affected person’s existence.
- As governor of South Carolina, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley signed an abortion ban that contained an exception to save lots of a affected person’s existence, however no exceptions for rape or incest. Alternatively, in June, a spokesperson mentioned she would signal a invoice that integrated the ones exceptions.
- Vivek Ramaswamy has mentioned he helps exceptions in those 3 circumstances, in step with Reuters.
- Former President Donald Trump has many times mentioned at the marketing campaign path this cycle that he helps those 3 exceptions.
