Haley says she’d sign abortion ban, but more Republicans are needed in Congress

GOP presidential candidate and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday she would sign a federal abortion ban into law if she were president, but she dismissed the possibility of such a ban materializing, noting it was unlikely to get the necessary 60 votes to pass the Senate.

Haley’s comments are the clearest answer she has provided about her abortion position since she launched her campaign in February, becoming the only woman in the primary field so far.

“No one has been honest” about how difficult a ban would be to achieve, Haley said at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. 

“It would take a majority of the House, 60 senators and a president to sign it,” she said. “We haven’t had 60 Republican senators in 100 years.”

Haley also reiterated her support for the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had secured abortion rights on a federal level.

“Now it’s back in the states where it belongs,” she said Wednesday.

Last month, Haley attempted to outline her anti-abortion position in a speech at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America headquarters. She stressed compassion and national consensus but provided few details about what she would support as president. 

Asked Wednesday how she would square her anti-abortion position in a state like New Hampshire, which is overwhelmingly pro-choice, she said, “I can’t suddenly change my pro-life position because I’m campaigning in New Hampshire,” noting, “It’s incredibly personal, and I’m going to treat it with the respect it deserves.”