Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she doubts her party will be able to pass a federal ban on abortion, and called on lawmakers on both sides of the issue to reach a consensus.
Haley has said in the past that she would sign a federal ban if it reached her desk in the Oval Office, but she pointed out to a crowd gathered at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday that to pass a federal ban, Republicans need a majority of votes in the House and 60 votes in the Senate, and she says they haven’t had that many Senate votes in more than 100 years. She said there are likely several things on which the two sides can agree.
“Can’t we all agree that we shouldn’t have late term abortions?” she asked. “Can’t we all agree that we should encourage more adoptions and good quality adoptions? Can’t we all agree that contraceptives should be accessible?”
As South Carolina governor in 2016, Haley signed a bill that banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
She also said there should be agreement that women who get abortions should not be prosecuted. Haley said she personally opposes abortion rights, but doesn’t judge individuals who support them.
Expanding the GOP
In response to a state fair attendee who asked what Republicans were doing to attract independent voters, Haley said that the party needed to work harder. She pointed out that Republicans had lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
“We should be pulling on Hispanics,” she said. “We should be pulling on Asians. We should be pulling on African-Americans. We should be pulling on women. We should be pulling on the younger generation. And you go and ask them what they care about, and guess what? We agree on a lot of things. What they’re upset with is how Republicans are communicating.”
Haley didn’t mention any names, but said Republicans need to leave negativity, chaos and drama behind and turn to a new generation of leaders for the party.
Haley trails most of the crowded field of Republican presidential hopefuls. Real Clear Politics’ average of polls shows her with less than 4% of likely voter support.
