JD Vance says GOP needs to ‘accept’ voters don’t want blanket abortion bans

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said that the Republican Party needs to “accept” that voters in the United States do not want complete bans on abortion.

The Ohio senator’s comment on Sunday comes after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, allowing all 50 states to choose whether or not to make abortion legal. The Republican Party has attempted to focus on abortion restrictions in elections since the Supreme Court’s decision but has been left with lackluster election results since then. During a televised appearance on CNN, Vance was asked about a Texas woman unable to get an abortion and if stories like this are why voters do not trust Republicans on the topic.

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“Well, I don’t know the details of that story, Jake,” Vance said on State of the Union. “But I will say that we have to accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans. They just don’t. I say this as a person who wants to protect as many unborn babies as possible. We have to provide exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape, and so forth. That is just a basic necessity.”

Vance went on to state that the cost of living has made it very difficult for families to have children, claiming that a family will have a child and get a “$20,000 unexpected bill” from the hospital. Vance stated that there are families who want to have children but cannot afford to, and that is “a real problem” both the Republican Party and the United States faces. Vance added that families being priced out of having more children is “how you destroy a nation.”

“We’ve made it way too hard to have children and to have families in this country in that environment, if people see Republicans not as the party that’s trying to make it easier to have babies but is just trying to take people’s rights away, then we’re going to lose,” Vance said. “I want to protect as many unborn babies as possible, I also think we have to win the trust back of the American people, and one of the ways to do that is to be the truly pro-family party, and I think we are, but we got to carry that message forward and actually enact some public policy to that effect.”

When asked if birth control would be part of this policy, Vance said that “people need to make those decisions.” He also said he does not know any Republican “with a brain” trying to remove abortion rights; the anchor then said he could “provide a list” of such Republicans, to which Vance said such a list would not include “anybody that I talk to.”

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The Republican Party has struggled to navigate the subject of abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, as the party failed to retake the Senate and only gained a slim majority in the House after the 2022 midterm elections.

Going into 2024, several Republican candidates have shifted their position on abortion. Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president again and is currently leading the Republican presidential primary race, stated in September that Republicans need to exercise caution on the topic due to the potential for negative electoral backlash.