Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley admitted that the topic of abortion was a “personal issue” and that Republican candidates need to “be honest” with Americans.
Haley responded to a question from the debate moderators asking her about the results from Tuesday night’s elections in which the topic of abortion was a central issue and allowing the Democratic Party to do better than the Republican Party.
Voters in Ohio enshrined abortion into the state constitution, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) won re-election after focusing his campaign on abortion rights.
In Virginia, Democrats took full control of the state legislature as they held control of the state Senate and took a majority in the House of Delegates after Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) pushed for a 15-week abortion ban.
“I think you have to be honest with the American people,” Haley told the moderators. “This is a personal issue for every woman and every man.”
Nikki Haley restates her call for “consensus” on abortion bans and urges people to “stop the judgment,” garnering applause from the Republican crowd. pic.twitter.com/dCpPjYBUlY
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“I am unapologetically pro-life, not because the Republican Party tells me to, but because my husband Michael was adopted and I had trouble having both of my children,” Haley explained. “So, I’m surrounded by blessings.”
Haley continued, “Having said that, when you look post-Roe, a wrong was made right. They took it out of the hands of unelected justices and they put it in the hands of the people.”
“Now we’re seeing states vote and what I’ll tell you is as much as I’m pro-life, I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice,” Haley explained. “I don’t want them to judge me for being pro-life.”
After Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, several states such as Kansas, New York, California, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont saw abortion rights as being a key issue to voters in both the special elections and midterm elections.
Other states such as Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana either have limits on when an abortion can be conducted, have outright banned abortion, or allow abortion instances when the mother’s life is in danger.
“There’s some states that are going more on the pro-life side. I welcome that,” Haley added. “There are some states that are going more on the pro-choice side. I wish that wasn’t the case, but the people decided.”
Haley continued to stress the need to “be honest,” adding that it would take “60 Senate votes, a majority in the House, and a president to sign” an abortion ban.
“So, no. We haven’t had 60 Senate votes in over 100 years. We might have 45 pro-life Senators,” Haley added. “So, now Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democrat president can ban these state laws. So, let’s find consensus. Let’s agree on what, how we can ban late-term abortions.”
