Tim Scott says he would ‘definitely’ support 20-week abortion ban

by Julia Manchester - 04/13/23 12:16 PM ET

FILE - Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., gives a speech at a Black History Month dinner hosted by the Charleston County GOP on Feb. 16, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. Scott is taking the next official step toward a bid for president in 2024. The Republican is set to announce the formation of an exploratory committee, according to a person familiar with his plans who spoke with The Associated Press, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, on the condition on anonymity so as not to get ahead of the official announcement. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File) — FILE – Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., gives a speech at a Black History Month dinner hosted by the Charleston County GOP on Feb. 16, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. Scott is taking the next official step toward a bid for president in 2024. The Republican is set to announce the formation of an exploratory committee, according to a person familiar with his plans who spoke with The Associated Press, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, on the condition on anonymity so as not to get ahead of the official announcement. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is inching closer to a presidential bid, said on Thursday that he would support a 20 week ban on abortion.

“I think states have to solve that problem on their own,” Scott said in an interview with WMUR in New Hampshire. “The big problem that we see today is that Democrats want to make this a federal issue of having abortions into the third trimester. That is something that puts us in the company of China and North Korea. We cannot go there, so we have to have a federal limit on how far we can go, and that is something we have to discuss.”

When asked whether he would sign a 20 week ban on the procedure into law if it reached his desk, Scott said “definitely.”

Scott’s comments come after he danced around whether he would support a federal ban on abortion during an interview with CBS News in Iowa, while calling himself “100 percent pro-life without a question.”

“I do believe we should have a robust conversation about what’s happening on a very important topic,” he told the network.

Scott is in the midst of an early presidential contest swing after announcing on Wednesday that he was launching a presidential exploratory committee.

Republicans up and down the ballot have grappled with how to message on abortion after Democrats successfully zeroed in on the issue in the lead up to last year’s midterm elections following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has called on Republicans to put Democrats “on the defense” on the issue by labeling them as extreme on abortion.

“This is not an issue that is going away for our party in a post-Dobbs world, and we can’t put our head in the sand thinking that it’s going to heading into 2024,” McDaniel said in an interview with Fox News last week.

President Trump has sidestepped the question when asked whether he supports a federal abortion ban, telling The Associated Press last month that “we’re looking at a lot of different things.” Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R ), who is preparing to enter the 2024 GOP primary, has signaled that he supports a measure that would make abortion in Florida illegal after six weeks of pregnancy.

Roe v. Wade upheld the constitutional right to an abortion prior to viability, typically around 23 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After viability, states had the authority to regulate abortion under Roe. Abortions at or after 21 weeks are uncommon, and represent 1 percent of all abortions in the U.S., according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.