Pence to give speech on abortion amid Supreme Court fight

Former Vice President Mike Pence will deliver a speech on the debate surrounding abortion later this month ahead of oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Mississippi’s abortion law.

Pence will deliver remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 30, the day before the high court will begin to hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which deals with the law that bans the procedure after 15 weeks. 

The former vice president will be joined by Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group, for a fireside chat after the address, according to a release that was seen first by The Hill.

Pence has been vocally anti-abortion throughout his political career and became the first vice president to address the annual March for Life in 2017. 

“Few of us understand the stakes better than Vice President Mike Pence, who has been fighting to restore the right to life in our law for years and served in the most pro-life administration in history,” Dannenfelser said. “He is right in his unfailing conviction that life is winning in America. Science makes clear that unborn children are human and can feel pain by 15 weeks.”

In July, the former vice president announced that his organization, Advancing American Freedom, filed an amicus brief asking the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. The group also requested that Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld the constitutional right to the procedure, be overturned. 

News of his remarks come as both sides of the abortion debate prepare for the oral arguments on the Mississippi law. The law threatens the standing of Roe v. Wade.

The Supreme Court is also considering Texas’s controversial six-week abortion ban, which was argued before the justices on Nov. 1. 

Last week, the Susan B. Anthony List launched a $2.5 million television and digital ad buy in D.C. Meanwhile, abortion rights groups are preparing to make the debate over the procedure a major issue in the midterm elections. NARAL Pro-Choice America announced on Tuesday it was endorsing 12 House Democrats ahead of the 2022 contests.