Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) became former President Donald Trump’s running mate Monday, despite the freshman lawmaker having previously called Trump a “terrible candidate” and saying he’d never vote for him.
But that’s not the only area where Vance has done a major flip-flop. In recent months, he’s appeared to soften what was once a hard-line anti-abortion stance, as it’s become increasingly clear that Republicans’ assaults on reproductive rights are a losing issue for the party.
In an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” last week, Vance danced around the issue of medication abortion, which is used early in pregnancy, before finally saying he supported access to it. He offered a vague stance on reproductive rights overall, saying: “We actually have to have an important conversation in this country about what our abortion policy should be.”
He was similarly noncommittal during a May appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” where he refused to say what he thinks about a federal standard for abortion limits but said the “gross majority of abortion policy” should be made at the state level. He didn’t offer any further explanation.
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It’s quite a shift from comments he made before Trump ― who’s also started to present a supposedly more moderate stance on abortion ― started floating him as a running mate. Just eight months ago, Vance spoke in favor of Congress interfering in state-level abortion laws.
“We can’t give in to the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter, because if it doesn’t, then the pro-life movement is basically not going to exist, I think, for the next couple of years,” he said at the time.
His comments came in the wake of Ohio voters passing a ballot measure to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution, making it the seventh state where voters protected abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
During his 2022 Senate campaign, Vance advocated for a 15-week national abortion ban.
“I think it’s totally reasonable to say you cannot abort a baby, especially for elective reasons, after 15 weeks of gestation,” he said during a debate with his Democratic opponent. “No civilized country allows it. I don’t want the United States to be an exception.”
In reality, many countries allow elective abortion past 15 weeks.
On the campaign trail in 2021, Vance spoke out against abortion bans that make exceptions for rape and incest, saying that “two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“What kind of society do we want to have?” he went on. “A society that looks at unborn babies as inconveniences to be discarded?”
Within hours of Trump announcing Vance as his vice presidential pick, President Joe Biden’s campaign held a press call with reproductive rights activists emphasizing Vance’s record on abortion.
“When Donald Trump and JD Vance celebrate overturning Roe, they’re celebrating every single cruel abortion ban across the country, many of which have no exceptions for rape or incest,” Mini Timmaraju, president of the group Reproductive Freedom for All, said on the call.
“He’s proudly anti-choice and wants to take women back decades,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said of Vance.
