Former Vice President Mike Pence has been one of the only candidates to lean hard into the issue every opportunity he can. The others have been reluctant to address abortion, especially as voters across the country defeat state efforts to restrict it.
Still, moderators could press candidates to clarify whether they would support a national 15-week ban, something that leading advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America indicated is the minimum needed for its endorsement. Most of the candidates have fallen back on saying the issue should be left up to states.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have both signed far-reaching abortion restrictions in their own states but have shied away from calling for bans at the national level.
Asa Hutchinson, who signed a near-total abortion ban as governor of Arkansas, originally said the issue should be left up to states but has since said he would sign a 15-week national ban if it had “appropriate exceptions.”
After waffling initially, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) said he supports a 15 week ban and indicated he’d sign a stricter one if Congress could pass it.
Aside from abortion, there could be some questions related to COVID-19.
In a question well-suited to the former governors, there could be mentions of vaccine and mask mandates — and which state leaders among them did the best at keeping pandemic restrictions to a minimum.
There also could be talk of investigations into the origins of the virus.
