Politics of abortion: Can Republicans avoid going off a cliff?
Nikki Haley moves briskly through her talking points – on the federal budget, education, transgender matters, immigration.
But at her “Women for Nikki” launch event last week in Des Moines, Iowa, the Republican candidate for president doesn’t voluntarily touch upon what may be the hottest topic in politics today: abortion.
Only when an audience member brings it up does Ms. Haley – former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina – address the subject.
“I am strongly pro-life,” she says to applause, noting that her husband is adopted and that she had trouble conceiving both of her children. Still, she’s quick to add, “I don’t judge anyone that’s pro-choice any more than I want them to judge me being pro-life.”
Ms. Haley then says she doesn’t want “unelected justices deciding something this personal. I want to make sure that it’s decided where the people’s voices are heard.”
Her answer suggests a small-d democratic approach to a deeply divisive topic. But the issue has become exponentially more complicated since last June, when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion. The South Carolinian plans to deliver a major policy speech on abortion next Tuesday.
Other high-profile Republicans running, or likely to run, for president in 2024 are also treading carefully on the issue – if they mention it at all. Thus far, former President Donald Trump has said nothing about the new
