During the first GOP 2024 presidential debate on Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina governor and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley got into a tense exchange on the issue of abortion.
In the debate, some of the boldly pro-life candidates were asked about their stances on abortion and if they would support a federal ban on abortion.
On Wednesday, as Townhall covered, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the state’s six-week “heartbeat” legislation is constitutional. When asked about her stance on abortion, Haley argued that she is “unapologetically pro-life” but that Republicans need to be “realistic” and “honest with the American people.”
“It will take 60 Senate votes, it will take a majority of the House,” she said, noting that there has not been that many pro-life elected officials in years. She then called for “consensus” on the issue, specifically, banning third-trimester abortions.
“Can't we all agree that we should ban late-term abortions?" she stated. "Can't we all agree that we should encourage adoptions? Can't we all agree that doctors and nurses who don't believe in abortion shouldn't have to perform them? Can't we all agree that contraception should be available? And, can't we all agree that we are not going to put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion?”
HALEY: "Can't we all agree that we are not gonna put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion?" pic.twitter.com/lemnc68Ez2
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 24, 2023
In response, Pence said that “consensus is not leadership” on the issue of abortion.
"To be honest with you, Nikki, you're my friend, but consensus is the opposite of leadership," Pence said. "They didn't just send it to the states only. It's not a states-only issue, it's a moral issue."
“I promise you, as president of the United States, the American people will have a champion for life in the Oval Office. Can’t we have a minimum standard in every state in the nation that says when a baby is capable of feeling pain, an abortion be allowed?” he said. “It’s going to take unapologetic leadership.”
Haley pressed that Republicans do not have the votes to pass a strict federal abortion ban.
Heated exchange here between Mike Pence and Nikki Haley on abortion as Pence challenges her: "To be honest with you Nikki, you're my friend, but consensus is the opposite of leadership." pic.twitter.com/Ea1i3qb4wf
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) August 24, 2023
Lila Rose, the president of Live Action, claimed that Haley’s stance is “backwards and out of touch.”
Nikki Haley supporting contraception as some kind of solution is so backwards and out of touch. Birth control has made a generation of women sick and does nothing to decrease abortion - only feeds promiscuity culture
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) August 24, 2023