Vance: GOP has to earn America's trust back on abortion
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Sen. JD Vance participates in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1 in New York City. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said the Republican Party has to do a better job in "earning the American people's trust back" on the issue of abortion "where they frankly, just don't trust us."
The big picture: The Republican vice presidential candidate sought to pivot to a more compassionate tone on the issue of abortion in the face of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's attacks, calling for public policy that would "give women more options," so they can afford to have and take care of children.
- "I want us, as the Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word," he said. "I want us to support fertility treatments. I want us to make it easier for moms to afford to have babies."
- He added, "We can be a big and diverse country where we respect people's freedom of conscience and make the country more pro-baby and pro-family."
Zoom in: Vance claimed during the debate that he never supported a national abortion ban.
Reality check: He supported Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) bill in 2022 that sought to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- Vance has now adopted former President Trump's current policy of leaving abortion policy to states.
What they're saying: Vance appeared to assert that abortion law in Minnesota, Walz's home state, allows for letting infants who survive an abortion to die.
- "The statute that you signed into law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide life-saving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion," Vance said.
- Walz responded: "These are women's decisions to make about their health care decisions, and the physicians know best when they need to do this."
- He added that Vance is "trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point. That's not it at all."
Between the lines: Minnesota's abortion protections do not include any gestational limit on abortion, meaning the procedure can be done any time in pregnancy.
- A separate law signed by Walz changed a requirement that medical personnel seek to"preserve the life" of an infant who is born alive after an attempted abortion to say instead that they must "care" for the infant.
- While Republicans have claimed the law allows babies to be left to die, supporters say the provision was meant to allow families and doctors to forgo medical intervention in rare cases where infants are delivered with fatal complications.
- Recent state data suggests abortions late in pregnancy are rare. Just one third trimester termination — at 32 weeks — was reported in 2022, and advocates say they are typically prompted by serious health issues.
- Abortions at or after 21 weeks represent less than 1% of all abortions in the U.S., per the CDC. 94% take place at 13 weeks or earlier.
Zoom out: Trump said on his Truth Social platform during the debate that he would veto a federal abortion ban.
- While taking credit for Roe v. Wade being overturned during the presidential debate earlier this month, he said he would not sign a ban into law "because we've gotten what everybody wanted."
Flashback: Trump praises overturning Roe v. Wade
Editor's note: This article was updated with further information on Minnesota laws related to abortion and corrected to note that JD Vance was referring to a separate state law addressing what happens to an infant that survives an abortion. Axios' Torey Van Oot contributed to this report.
