Mike Pence calls for nationwide abortion ban following Roe’s downfall

For decades, former Vice President Mike Pence — known for his severe Christian fundamentalist views — has been calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. And on Friday, June 24, 2022, Pence got his wish when the High Court struck down Roe with its 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But Roe’s demise is not enough for Pence, who is now calling for a nationwide ban on abortion.

During a June 24 interview with Breitbart News, Pence applauded the six justices who voted to overturn Roe for having “the courage of their convictions.”

The theocratic former vice president/ex-Indiana governor, who is often mentioned a possible presidential candidate for 2024, told Breitbart, “Now that Roe v. Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history, a new arena in the cause of life has emerged, and it is incumbent on all who cherish the sanctity of life to resolve that we will take the defense of the unborn and the support for women in crisis pregnancy centers to every state in America. Having been given this second chance for life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.”

Although the Dobbs decision marks the end of Roe after 49 years, it is not a nationwide abortion ban but rather, allows individual states to determine whether they will or will not allow legal abortion. A long list of Republican-controlled states will immediately criminalize abortion statewide, while heavily Democratic states such as California have strong protections for abortion rights. Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, in response to the Dobbs ruling, has signed an executive order protecting abortion rights.

In order for abortion to be outlawed nationwide, both branches of Congress would need to pass such a federal ban — and it would need to be signed into law by the president.

Even if Republicans retake the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms and pass a federal anti-abortion law in 2023, it would no doubt be vetoed by President Joe Biden. The U.S. is safe from a federal abortion ban until at least January 2025.

The effect that the Dobbs ruling will have on the 2022 midterms remains to be seen, but Roe’s demise pushes abortion to the forefront — and swing states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Arizona and Georgia could become major battlegrounds on abortion rights in the midterms. Many Democrats, furious because Roe has been overturned, are no doubt hoping that voters will punish Republicans in general for the Dobbs ruling.