House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sided with former President Donald Trump in his stance on abortion.
Despite being a devout Catholic and being a “lifelong pro-lifer,” Johnson said that he doesn’t anticipate pushing for a nationwide abortion ban, adding that the decision should be left up to individual states.
“President Trump said this is in the states’ purview now,” Johnson told Politico. “After the Dobbs decision, I think that’s where it is.”
Johnson previously co-sponsored federal legislation that would have banned abortion at six weeks. He was also openly critical of the legality of Roe v. Wade prior to it being overturned.
The House Speaker also supported Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion that the higher court should reconsider restrictions on the use of contraception.
“There’s been some really bad law made,” he said. “They’ve made a mess of our jurisprudence in this country for the last several decades. And maybe some of that needs to be cleaned up.”
Johnson said that he believes in the “sanctity of human life” and that it is an “important article of faith,” but he needs to take into consideration other people’s views on the issue.
“I have 434 colleagues here. All of us have our own, philosophical principles that we live by, but you have to have a political consensus,” he added.
Previously, Johnson has had strong opinions on abortion, saying that the “killing of unborn children has been the greatest atrocity that’s been committed in our society.”
The issue has not only been apparent in Democrat-led states, but in red states as well.
Last year, Ohio voted to approve abortion and reproductive health rights into the state constitution, which upholds the right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” which includes fertility treatments, miscarriage care, contraception, and abortions.
Florida, South Dakota, and Arizona have also been weighing similar legislation ahead of the 2024 election.