Q: “Abortion has been a losing issue for Republicans since the Dobbs decision.” The question initially goes to Haley, especially for the impact on women.
“I am unapologetically pro-life, not because the Republican Party tells me to be.” Encourage adoptions, don’t make doctors and nurses perform abortions if they don’t want, make contraception available, don't jail women. “Humanize the situation and stop demonizing.” So Haley is going for votes on this one.
DeSantis is asked about his six-week ban and starts by talking about his 2022 win. Then says he’s pro-life, talks about hearing his children’s heartbeats. Goes with the same old “Democrats are the real extremists” message, but dodges the question of whether he would sign a six-week ban.
Pence is up next: “I’m not new to this cause,” he says, citing his Christian faith and quoting the Bible. To Haley, he says “consensus is the opposite of leadership.” This is “not a states-only issue, it’s a moral issue.” Goes to the lie that a 15-week federal ban would be a ban when a fetus can feel pain. Again, a lie.
Haley: “It is in the hands of the people and that’s where it should be.” She says he’s being dishonest, not admitting that there are not 60 Senate votes for a federal abortion ban. Pence is talking over her but Haley doesn’t back down.
Now the moderators feel they have to throw Burgum a bone, so they ask him about states that allow abortion “up until the point of birth.” Burgum starts off not by rising to that bait but by saying there should not be a federal abortion ban, which is an interesting choice given the question. He says Republicans can’t fight for 50 years for the states to make the choice, then turn around and say the feds should be deciding.
Hutchinson jumps right in, apparently feeling if Burgum gets to talk it must be his turn next, and accuses Biden and Democrats of an “extreme position at the national level” by way of justifying a federal abortion ban.