Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Sunday pushed back against a suggestion by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) that she would veto a federal abortion ban if former President Donald Trump were elected president and introduced it.
“American women are not stupid. I am not going to entrust the futures of my daughters and granddaughters to two men who have openly bragged about denying abortion to women across this country,” Warren said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” when asked if Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, thought Trump would veto any anti-abortion legislation.
Warren noted that even if she doesn’t sign bills to ban or restrict abortion nationwide, access to abortion could still be at risk: Some Republicans have signaled their intention to crack down on abortion by invoking the Comstock Act, which bans the mailing of abortion-related materials, but hasn’t been used for that purpose in a century.
Both Trump and Vance have said they do not support using the Comstock Act to ban abortion nationwide, and support states’ rights to set their own abortion laws.
But Warren noted that Vance joined the Republican Party last year. When writing a letter He called on the Department of Justice to invoke the Comstock Act to “stop all mail order operations.”
Asked about the Republican candidate’s pledge not to use anti-abortion laws, anchor Kristen Welker said, “It sounds like you don’t believe that.”
“Don’t believe me. Read it. Remember, J.D. Vance actually wrote a letter to the Department of Justice last year asking them to enforce the Comstock Act. And he did, and then Donald Trump picked him as vice president,” Warren said.
“The only way we’re going to protect access to abortion is for a Democratic Congress to send a bill to Kamala Harris for her to sign into law, and abortion rights will be restored to half the population of this country, and women will no longer go to the emergency room and be told they’re too close to death to get the medical care they need,” she added.
Asked about efforts still ongoing within his party to push legislation that would restrict abortion access nationwide, Vance said in an interview that aired Saturday that he believes President Trump would veto any federal abortion ban if it reached his desk.
Asked whether Trump would veto the temporary bill, Vance told Welker, “I think he will veto it. He’s made it very clear that he will.”
“And let me be very clear, Donald Trump has made his position very clear, he wants this to be a state decision. States will make this decision for themselves,” he later added.
