JD Vance on Abortion and the Pro-life Movement | Bridgehead Bits

Jonathon Van Maren shares an exclusive clip from July 27, 2021, from a phone interview with now-VP candidate JD Vance. JD Vance speaks on abortion and the pro-life movement in the US.

#JDVance #Prolife

Transcript

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Who is vice presidential candidate JD Vance? Is he pro life? What does he think about abortion? These are the questions a lot of pro lifers are asking, and fortunately, J. D. Vance has a very good record on the pro life issue. The pro life organization Susan B. Anthony List has given him an A rating for his work on the abortion issue during his first term as an Ohio senator. As an Ohio senator, he was also on the pro life side of the recent abortion referendum, which unfortunately pro lifers lost. He has made clear that he supports exceptions in abortion laws, which is unfortunate, but not uncommon in the Republican party, especially now after the fall of Roe v. Wade. He also recently during an interview said that he supports the availability of Mifepristone, which is the abortion pill responsible for 60 percent of abortions in the United States. This was very disappointing. Many social conservatives and pro lifers pointed out that this was inconsistent with his previously stated pro life convictions. Although there is reason to believe that Vance believed he was affirming the Supreme Court's conclusion that those suing to have FDA approval for the abortion pill removed did not have standing. But we are still waiting for clarity from Vance on that because to support the availability of the abortion pill while also identifying as pro life would of course be profoundly inconsistent. I've had the opportunity to, uh, interview JD Vance a couple of times over the past several years on a variety of issues, including pornography, big tech and abortion as well. When I asked him for his thoughts on the American pro life movement, here's what he told me. Yeah, you know, I mean, look, I think anybody who's known someone, I've known many people who have had abortions. They often feel like it's a choice of last resort, either because the culture is telling me - uh, sorry, either, the culture is telling them, they have to abort their baby, or they're never going to amount to anything, or because of just straightforward economic pressures, they don't feel like they're going to be able to take care of their baby. Um, and so I, I think that any truly pro life movement is going to focus not just on the cultural pressure, uh, for women to have abortion, the legal right to have an abortion, but also all the economic pressures, uh, that make it more likely that that will happen in the first place. And we, you know, I will say, um, to the American pro life movement's

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I, I think we have tended to fight on all those fronts. We've not always been respected by our coalition partners on the right, but the pro life movement, I think, has always been incredibly [unintelligible] to the economic circumstances that sometimes, you know, lead women to have abortions. Um, and I, you know, if, if, if, if I could, you know, make a prediction, I think that viewpoint, that very pro life viewpoint, is going to find greater expression, in, in the whole conservative movement in the coming years. Thank you for joining us for this conversation. If you want to hear other conversations like it, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also find our content wherever you get your podcasts, or you can head over to thebridgehead.ca where we post both written commentary and video. Thanks so much for joining us.