Donald Trump and JD Vance did not mention reproductive rights even once during their acceptance speeches at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
July 18, 2024, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From left to right: former US President Donald J Trump, former first lady Melania Trump, United States Senator JD Vance, the 2024 Republican nominee for Vice President of the US, and Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Senator JD Vance.
July 20, 2024
Trump and Vance kept silent on abortion at RNC, in effort to secure more women’s votes
Former president Donald J Trump, the Republican Party’s candidate in the November election, whose distinct opinions and actions concerning women’s reproductive rights have left many outraged over the years, has recently attempted to steer away from this controversial issue.
During his largely off-script acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he did not touch on anything to do with women’s reproductive rights, or any legislative plans to reshape the post-Roe v Wade political landscape.
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This is not new. Trump was avoiding questions about the six-week abortion ban in Florida in April, according to NBC News’ Natasha Korecki.
In the past, Trump has repeatedly changed his views on abortion. “I am very pro-choice,” he said in a 1999 interview with NBC News. “I am pro-life,” he declared in 2011 at a Conservative Political Action Conference. In 2016, he said he was going to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an NGO that provides sex education and reproductive healthcare in the US and globally.
Trump’s views have not gone unaccompanied by actions. During his time at the White House (2016–20), he selected several conservative lawyers for the Supreme Court, and these decisions directly led to the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022. The landmark 1973 verdict protected the right to abortion in the United States – after the Supreme Court, dominated by justices appointed by Trump during his first term, overturned the verdict in 2022, the legislation on abortion depends on state-level politics.
Alienating female voters is understood to be one of the most significant factors that might result in Trump’s loss in November.
The silence on the issue of abortion during Trump’s hour-and-a-half-long speech in Milwaukee is the latest instance of the strategy to distance himself from radical views, in order to gain more votes from both women and those with more moderate opinions who are concerned about reproductive freedom.
James D Vance, the Ohio senator picked last week as the Republican candidate for vice president, is no different.
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He is well known for his radical views on reproductive rights. He welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022 – but he went further. He expressed support for a much stricter measure: a nationwide abortion ban, which is a federal-level legislation prohibiting the termination of pregnancy in all of the US. In 2022, when running for a Senate seat in conservative Ohio, he stated: “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.”
A year earlier, he expressed support for banning abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said in an interview for Spectrum News in Columbus.
“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” he argued.
Women’s rights campaigners replied to Vance’s nomination with a barrage of criticism.
Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s estranged niece, wrote on Twitter: “If the Trump/Vance ticket wins this election, it will be the beginning of the end of women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.”
Donald was never going to pick a woman to be his running mate. He has far too much contempt for us. In Vance, he’s found someone who hates women as much as he does; someone who wants to control them as much as he does. If the Trump/Vance ticket wins this election, it will be the…
— Mary L. Trump (@MaryLTrump) July 17, 2024
Jenny Lawson, executive director for Planned Parenthood Votes, wrote in a media statement: “Vance has consistently attacked and undermined reproductive freedom throughout his career – and he will take that dangerous record to the White House, cosigning every policy that comes his way, no matter the harm.”
It is notable how, immediately after being included on the Republican ticket as the candidate for vice president, Vance attempted to appear much less radical.
“My view is that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, and his views on abortion are going to be the views that dominate this party and drive this party forward,” he said in an interview on Fox News, aired soon after he was confirmed as Trump’s running mate.
“You have to believe in reasonable exceptions because that’s where the American people are. And you’ve got to let individual states make this decision,” he added.
Lisa Lerer from The New York Times concluded: “His current position is a clear softening for a candidate who once described staunch opposition to abortion as one of the most crucial litmus tests for conservatives.”
The acceptance speech delivered by Vance on Wednesday at the RNC might be perceived as another example of how Trump’s running mate is attempting to distance himself from radical ideas on women’s rights. Like his superior, while accepting the nomination, he did not make any reference to abortion or reproductive rights, even once.
It is not a surprise that neither Trump nor Vance have touched upon reproductive rights so close to the election. By diluting their previously radical anti-abortion rhetoric, they hope to gain more female votes.
According to the Centre for American Women and Politics (CAWP), during the 2020 election round, women were more likely to vote for Biden and Harris (55%) than for Trump and then-VP Mike Pence (43%). The Democrats’ appeal to women was more substantial than Trump’s superiority over Biden among male voters (51% to 46%).
Although Trump and Vance currently have a lead of just over 3% in the polls (according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll of polls), alienating female voters seems to be the most likely path to losing the election.
Donald Trump has already unleashed cruel abortion bans across the country with no exceptions for rape or incest. Now, he and J.D. Vance want to go further and ban abortion nationwide.
Thank you, Hadley, for speaking out about the consequences of Trump’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/S73iKRfJGV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 17, 2024
The Biden/Harris campaign, reacting to Vance’s nomination, repeatedly underlined his record on abortion and reproductive rights. “Donald Trump has already unleashed cruel abortion bans across the country with no exceptions for rape or incest. Now, he and J.D. Vance want to go further and ban abortion nationwide,” Biden wrote on Twitter.
