From left to proper: former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. Republican applicants proceed to be pressed on abortion rights at the marketing campaign path.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
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Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
From left to proper: former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. Republican applicants proceed to be pressed on abortion rights at the marketing campaign path.
Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs; Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs; Scott Olson/Getty Photographs; Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs
In all probability no factor is thornier for the 2024 Republican presidential number one applicants than abortion.
Republicans extensively cheered the 2022 Preferrred Court docket choice, Dobbs v. Jackson Girls’s Well being, that overturned Roe v. Wade. However since then, they’ve discovered that going too a long way on abortion restrictions generally is a political legal responsibility.
The Dobbs choice and next state-level regulations limiting abortion get entry to galvanized citizens who strengthen abortion rights. Each and every state poll measure on abortion rights since Dobbs has pop out in want of abortion rights, even in crimson states like Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio.
On most sensible of that, the GOP’s opposition to abortion rights has been blamed for Republican underperformance within the 2022 midterms, and November’s elections in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio.
Consequently, Republican presidential applicants are making an attempt a balancing act: learn how to attraction to a birthday celebration base that, to various levels, opposes abortion rights, with out alienating moderates, independents and normal election citizens who want fewer restrictions. The outcome has been many large statements about “protective lifestyles,” with out numerous specifics about precisely what restrictions applicants want.
As an example, former President Donald Trump, the main Republican candidate, has dodged the query of whether or not he helps a federal abortion ban, to not point out what sort of gestational limits he helps.
In the meantime, Democrats see protective abortion rights now not most effective as an ethical crucial however in an effort to force citizens to the polls in 2024. Abortion rights advocates are operating to place measures protective get entry to to the process onto ballots in 2024 in numerous swing states, within the hopes of energizing citizens.
President Biden hasn’t ever been a passionate crusader for abortion rights. However since Dobbs, he has been extra prepared to marketing campaign at the factor. The query is how a lot it continues to force citizens in 2024, and to what stage different problems – considerations concerning the economic system, Biden and Trump’s age, overseas conflicts – take over the dialog.
Does the candidate strengthen a federal abortion ban?
The top-profile query on abortion that applicants face is whether or not they would again a federal abortion ban. Earlier than he dropped out of the race, former Vice President Mike Pence challenged his competition to signal directly to a 15-week federal ban, and a number of other did. (Applicants have given a spread of solutions on what number of weeks the cutoff for this sort of ban can be; this is addressed in any other phase beneath.)
Trump has been in particular evasive at the query, then again. He has been requested a couple of federal ban a number of instances, and whilst he hasn’t ever stated “no” outright, he has additionally frequently refused to again a federal abortion ban.
That stated, he as soon as did again a federal ban – all through the 2016 marketing campaign, he promised to signal a 20-week federal ban if it got here to his table as president, and in 2018, President Trump driven Congress to cross this sort of ban.
So what gestational limits, if any, does the candidate strengthen?
Since Dobbs, states have handed a number of regulations about how a lot to limit abortion, giving applicants many alternatives to both reward or criticize a spread of restrictions. As well as, one of the most applicants signed abortion bans as governors or supported restrictions as legislators. Beneath are the more than a few ranges of abortion restrictions that applicants both recently strengthen or have supported prior to now.
Does the candidate strengthen restrictions on medicine abortion?
Previous to the Dobbs choice, medicine abortion accounted for a majority of all abortions within the U.S. Since Dobbs, abortion rights activists had been serving to sufferers, together with the ones in states with tight restrictions, get get entry to to the drugs utilized in those abortions – misoprostol and mifepristone. One way is to ship the drugs to sufferers throughout the mail. In reaction, some states have handed regulations making an attempt to restrict get entry to to these drugs.
The president has some energy to limit or increase get entry to to the drugs – Biden, as an example, signed an govt order in early 2023 that secure get entry to to medicine abortion by means of telehealth appointments, and that still allowed pharmacies to distribute the drugs.
As president, Trump driven to limit medicine abortion all through the Ccovid-19 pandemic, asking the Preferrred Court docket to require sufferers to seek advice from a doctor in an effort to obtain the drugs.
The applicants have stated little about whether or not and the way they’d hope to limit get entry to to the drugs as president. NPR reached out to all campaigns about their stance in this subject and has now not won responses.
What about exceptions in terms of rape, incest or the lifetime of the pregnant individual?
Whilst Republicans normally oppose abortion rights, many consider there must be particular circumstances during which a affected person must have large abortion get entry to – particularly, when a being pregnant effects from rape or incest, or when an abortion would save a pregnant affected person’s lifestyles.
The ones 3 exceptions are widespread a number of the Republican applicants, however some have supported or signed regulations that both don’t comprise all 3 exceptions, or that comprise them to restricted extents. Nonetheless, all the final primary applicants agree in offering the ones widespread exceptions. However, there’s nuance amongst their positions.
- Gov. Doug Burgum, R-N.D., signed a near-total abortion ban in North Dakota that incorporated very restricted exceptions for rape and incest, permitting sufferers of the ones crimes to get abortions most effective as much as six weeks of gestation. That legislation additionally allowed for abortion in circumstances that might save a affected person’s lifestyles or save you serious clinical hurt.
- Former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., advised Semafor in April 2023 that he helps exceptions in those 3 circumstances.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., signed a six-week abortion ban that incorporated exceptions for rape and incest as much as 15 weeks if a affected person may provide documentation. The ban additionally contained an exception to avoid wasting a affected person’s lifestyles.
- As governor of South Carolina, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley signed an abortion ban that contained an exception to avoid wasting a affected person’s lifestyles, however no exceptions for rape or incest. On the other hand, in June, a spokesperson stated she would signal a invoice that incorporated the ones exceptions.
- Vivek Ramaswamy has stated he helps exceptions in those 3 circumstances, in line with Reuters.
- Former President Donald Trump has many times stated at the marketing campaign path this cycle that he helps those 3 exceptions.