Former President Trump largely avoided details about his personal position on abortion during the campaign, despite Democrats blaming him for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
Trump has said the fate of abortion should be left to individual states and declined to take a position on a possible federal abortion ban, which is being pushed by allies including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
He has criticized states in the past with six-week abortion bans and last year urged Republican candidates not to take a hard line on the issue, noting that it is “very difficult to win elections” when they do.
However, Trump's shortlist for vice president has taken a tougher stance than the president, embracing beliefs or enacting laws that are unpopular with much of the electorate. Trump has said he will announce his running mate in mid-July around the Republican National Convention.
Here are the top three contenders for the job — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — on abortion.
Doug Burgum
As governor of North Dakota, Burgum last year signed one of the nation's strictest abortion laws, banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law, which was overwhelmingly approved in the state legislature, provides no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
During his long bid for the Republican Party's presidency last summer, Burgum, like Trump, said he supported the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade but would not sign a federal abortion ban if he were in the Oval Office would be elected. He has maintained that states should decide their own abortion policies.
“And what's going to happen in North Dakota is never going to happen in California or New York or even the state of Minnesota. I – that's why I'm on the record saying I would not sign a federal abortion ban,” Burgum said in July 2023 on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
Marco Rubio
Rubio, a veteran senator who ran in the Republican Party's primary against Trump in the 2016 elections, co-sponsored a bill with Graham that would ban abortions after 15 weeks nationwide.
“I have always been pro-life,” Rubio told reporters in September 2022, explaining his support for the legislation. “You have to ask Democrats what restrictions they support… Democrats will not vote for any restrictions on abortion.”
When questioned by CBS News in August 2022 on whether he would support a complete ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking, Rubio said he personally supported such a ban, but realized that this was a minority view. That's why he said he would vote for exceptions because of political realities, and supported such a ban at the state level.
The Florida senator appeared to sidestep a question last month about whether he disagrees with Trump's opposition to a national abortion ban.
“Well, he won't sign one [a national abortion ban] because there is no way we can get through,” he told NBC News in May. “I never said we have 60 votes in the Senate, votes in the House of Representatives and everything else in between.”
In the same interview, he appeared to dodge a follow-up question about his thoughts on Trump's description of Florida's six-week abortion ban as a “terrible thing, a terrible mistake.”
“Well, again, I'm pro-life, so I support laws that save unborn human lives. Other people have different opinions about what our law should be,” Rubio said. “That law you're talking about was passed by elected legislators in the state of Florida, members of the House of Representatives who have to go back to their constituents every two years, and senators who have to go back every four years.”
J.D. Vance
Vance has been a staunch supporter of abortion restrictions, but also supported exceptions in cases such as rape.
Vance last year called Ohio's move to enshrine abortion rights a “gut punch” to anti-abortion advocates like himself.
“For pro-lifers, last night was a hard blow. There is no sugarcoating it,” he wrote on X last November. “We need to recognize how much voters distrust us (elected Republicans) on this issue. An unplanned pregnancy is scary. At best, you'll have to deal with social disdain and thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills. We need people who see us as the pro-life party, and not just the anti-abortion party.”
In 2022, Vance said he would support “a minimum national standard” for abortion restrictions, along with a proposal to limit access to abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
When asked on CBS News last month As for what he would like for a minimum national standard for abortion, Vance relied on Trump's belief that the decision should be up to the states.
“I think first of all we have to recognize that political reality, I think, really motivates a lot of these considerations. What Donald Trump has said, which is very consistent with what I said during my own campaign, is that the vast majority of abortion policy will be made at the state level,” he said.
“And I actually think if you compare his position to saying, look, this is a tough issue, we need to let people debate and decide this very tough issue in this new environment where it's been returned to the Democratic legislators,” he added. he added.
“I'm pro-life. I want to save as many babies as possible. And of course I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that late-term abortions shouldn't happen, with reasonable exceptions.”
Vance has made mixed statements about how he feels about a federal abortion ban. In November last year, he told CNN Republicans must embrace federal law, including a 15-week ban with exceptions.
But the Republican from Ohio also pointed out to what he calls the “political reality” surrounding the issue.
“Give people a choice between abortion restrictions very early in pregnancy, with exceptions, or the pro-choice position, and the pro-life view has a fighting chance. Give people a heartbeat bill with no exceptions and it loses 65-35. ” he wrote last November.
