Ms. Mace isn't whistling Dixie.
“We lost a lot of seats we could have won last year, and 2024 is going to be a dogfight. If we want to win, we want to win the popular vote, this sure as hell is not going to do it,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) said about the GOP push for more abortion restrictions, including the Florida ban.
Ms. Mace said she supports restrictions after 15 weeks but believes the Republican Party also needs to back exceptions and access to birth control if they want to regulate abortion. Ms. Mace, who comes from the third state in the GOP nominating contest, hasn’t endorsed a candidate for president.
Trump, Other GOP 2024 Hopefuls Struggle to Define Abortion Message
Republican base is eager for more abortion restrictions, but polls show most voters are wary
By Eliza Collins, WSJ
April 23, 2023 5:30 am ET
With abortion access hotly debated since the end of Roe v. Wade last year, GOP politicians are trying to satisfy the base while positioning for next year’s general election. Photo: Probal Rashid/Zuma Press
As states, Congress and the Supreme Court weigh abortion restrictions, GOP presidential hopefuls are divided over how far to go on limits that are demanded by their base but unpopular with the voters who decide general elections.
Former President Donald Trump nominated three justices to the Supreme Court, making a conservative majority that voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion last year. His spokesman suggested last week that Mr. Trump opposes any national abortion bans, which some Republicans are urging.
“President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the state level,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
That brought a sharp response from SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who said the statement from Mr. Trump’s spokesman “is a morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate to hold.” She said the organization will oppose any candidate who doesn’t embrace a minimum 15-week national abortion ban.
Ms. Dannenfelser was involved in both of Mr. Trump’s campaigns, and the organization along with its affiliates spent roughly $52 million during the 2020 election cycle, said spokeswoman Mary Owens.
Abortion access has been hotly debated in the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Republican states continue to restrict abortion rights further, as some Democratic-led states work to codify rights into law. The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the widely used abortion pill Mifepristone to remain on the market indefinitely, blocking the effect of a lower-court order that was poised to limit access to the pill.
The Supreme Court’s action wasn’t a decision on the merits of the case; instead, the justices were deciding whether the pill could remain available during a continuing legal challenge brought by antiabortion groups.
Many prominent Republicans have been silent on that legal case and whether the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill should be overturned. A Wall Street Journal poll this month found 66% of voters opposed revoking approval of the drug, while 25% supported it.
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to enter the race for president in the coming months, signed legislation in April that bans most abortions in his state after six weeks of pregnancy. The law has limited exceptions, including for rape and incest, and for certain medical emergencies.
The move could boost him with the GOP base in the primary contests but might be a liability in a general election. The WSJ poll found a majority of voters opposed a six-week abortion ban, 53% to 41%. Eight in 10 Democrats opposed the ban, as did 56% of independent voters. Meanwhile, 71% of Republicans supported the restrictions.
Republicans performed worse than expected in the 2022 midterm elections, which came several months after the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. While Republicans did pick up the House majority, it was by a narrower margin than most analysts predicted. Democrats picked up a Senate seat and three governor mansions compared with Republicans’ one.
Independent voters swung toward Democrats by wide margins in some of the most competitive Senate races in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, states that will be key to the presidential election in 2024.
“We lost a lot of seats we could have won last year, and 2024 is going to be a dogfight. If we want to win, we want to win the popular vote, this sure as hell is not going to do it,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) said about the GOP push for more abortion restrictions, including the Florida ban.
Ms. Mace said she supports restrictions after 15 weeks but believes the Republican Party also needs to back exceptions and access to birth control if they want to regulate abortion. Ms. Mace, who comes from the third state in the GOP nominating contest, hasn’t endorsed a candidate for president.
Meanwhile, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who endorsed Mr. Trump, pushed again Friday for the Senate to take up his legislation for a national abortion ban after 15 weeks. The bill includes exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
“I hope the Republican Party can muster the courage to oppose late-term abortion like we have done in the past,” he tweeted.
Other Republican hopefuls say they oppose abortion but have been vague in how far they are willing to go.
As governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley signed into law a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The former United Nations ambassador is set to give a speech on abortion this week in Arlington, Va.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who has an exploratory committee for president, has said he supports a 20-week abortion ban. But he avoided specifics when asked whether he supports a six-week abortion ban, telling NBC News he would sign “the most conservative, pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress,” should he become president.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he supports a national ban on abortion and wanted the abortion pill to be taken off the market.
Planned Parenthood Votes, an abortion-rights organization that spent $45 million in the 2020 election cycle, said it was focused on increasing awareness of the GOP candidates’ records, portraying them as extreme.
“They have painted themselves into a corner they cannot get out of, and we know where they stand. They are all antiabortion politicians,” said Jenny Lawson, the group’s executive director.
Aaron Zitner contributed to this article.
Write to Eliza Collins at eliza.collins@wsj.com
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