Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday applauded a controversial federal court ruling on Friday that overturned the US Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding approval of a widely used abortion pill.
“Life won again today. In approving chemical abortion on demand, the FDA acted with reckless disregard for human life and the well-being of American women, and today’s decision is 20 years wrong,” Pence said in a statement through the PAC, Advancing American Freedom, which referring to the decision day down last week.
“America’s Freedom Forward will always fight for the sanctity of life and defend babies and pregnant women in crisis.”
Pence is the first of the 2024 presidential candidates to be announced or possibly on the Republican side to consider the decision last Friday from Texas. Former President Donald Trump, considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination so far, has been silent, despite having appointed a federal judge who ruled that it could be the most significant abortion decision since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June.
Republicans are quiet — and for good reason. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support some type of abortion access. Six out of 10 voters reject legal abortion in most cases, according to a Politico analysis of midterms in 2022. Abortion access appeared to be a strong issue for Democrats in the last election.
Pence, whose abortion views are informed by religious faith, doubled down in the wake of Roe v. Wade reversed, saying “we must not rest” until abortion is completely outlawed across the country. The former vice president has urged other Republicans to take a similar stance on banning abortion access.
US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling overturned the FDA’s 2000 approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. The ruling was not implemented for a week, while the Biden administration vowed to appeal the decision.
The Justice Department is also considering how to proceed with a controversial ruling in Washington state that came down shortly after the Kacsmaryk decision and ordered the FDA to maintain the abortion pill status quo in response to a separate lawsuit brought by a group of Democratic attorneys general. .