On Abortion, Differences on Push for a Federal Ban

The five GOP candidates in Wednesday night's debate were asked about abortion in the last portion of the forum, and while a pro-life sentiment was dominant, differences emerged:

• Nikki Haley: The former South Carolina governor said she was pro-life and supported federal restrictions, but she also offered what the Washington Post views as the most nuanced view of the five. "What I'll tell you is as much as I'm pro-life, I don't judge anyone for being pro-choice, and I don't want them to judge me for being pro-life," she said. "So when we're looking at this, there are some states that are going more on the pro-life side. I welcome that. There are some states that are going more on the pro-choice side—I wish that wasn't the case, but the people decided."

• Ron DeSantis: The Florida governor signed a six-week abortion ban for his state and said "you got to do a better job" on state referendums on the issue. (Ohio supported access Tuesday night.) "I think of all the stuff that's happened to the pro-life cause, they have been caught flat-footed on these referenda," he said.
• Tim Scott: The South Carolina senator called for a federal ban on abortions at 15 weeks, and he called upon Haley and DeSantis to join him in supporting one. DeSantis did so on stage, reports the New York Times. But Haley responded that she would support anything that could get passed, and she suggested the political reality was all but impossible for such a limit. "No Republican president is going to ban abortions," she said, citing the need to find 60 votes in the Senate, per Politico.
• Chris Christie: He said the decision about abortion restrictions should be left up to the states.
• Vivek Ramaswamy: "Speaking as a man," he began, before citing what he sees as "the missing ingredient in this movement—sexual responsibility for men." He suggested that reliable paternity tests are so widely available that men should be forced to take responsibility for unwanted pregnancies. "We're all in this together," he said. "It's not men's rights versus women's rights. It's about human rights."

(More Republican debate stories.)