Haley Campaign Press Release - Fact Check: Haley's Pro-Life Position Will Save as Many Babies and Help as Many Moms as Possible

Nikki Haley is 100% pro-life. Ron DeSantis' word salad can't change the facts. Haley signed strong pro-life legislation as South Carolina governor and committed to fighting for federal legislation that saves as many babies and helps as many moms as possible. In fact, Haley's pro-life position has been widely praised by conservatives.

Haley is endorsed by pro-life activist Marlys Popma, who served as a former executive director for the Republican Party of Iowa and a former president of Iowa Right to Life.

RON DeSANTIS

Ron DeSantis has been all over the map on abortion.

• NBC News, 12/3/23: DeSantis: 'Congress is not going to do any type of abortion legislation'
• The Messenger, 11/30/23: DeSantis Refuses to Say if He Would Sign a Federal 6-Week Abortion Ban
• AP, 10/3/23: DeSantis said he would support a 15-week abortion ban, after avoiding a direct answer for months
• Politico, 7/31/23: DeSantis' latest comments slammed by anti-abortion group as 'unacceptable'

NIKKI HALEY

At the state level, Haley signed every pro-life bill that came to her desk.

• Haley signed the South Carolina Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which banned late-term abortions at 20 weeks, the most restrictive allowed under Roe.
• Haley signed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which ensured that a fetus surviving an abortion attempt is not treated as medical waste.
• Haley signed a bill into law prohibiting qualified health plans offered through the Obamacare exchanges from covering abortions.
• Haley signed the South Carolina Telemedicine Act, which prohibited the practice of prescribing abortion-inducing drugs via telemedicine.
• In 2015, Governor Haley initiated an investigation into South Carolina abortion clinics after videos were released showing Planned Parenthood officials throughout the country selling fetal tissue for research.
• Haley was a pro-life champion at the UN, and pro-life groups lauded her, saying: "During her tenure, we witnessed more pro-life victories than ever thought possible."

At the federal level, Haley's goal of finding consensus will save as many babies and help as many moms as possible.

• Haley wants to focus on finding consensus to pass bills at the federal level that will advance the pro-life cause. These include:
  • A ban on late-term abortion
  • Making adoptions easier
  • Making sure pro-life doctors and nurses are never forced to perform abortions against their personal and religious values
  • Making contraception more accessible
  • Making sure mothers who seek abortions are never jailed or punished
• Haley believes we will save more babies and help more moms by humanizing this issue instead of demonizing people.
• Haley gave a speech on the importance of defending life at the federal level, and said she will focus on finding consensus to move the ball forward on pro-life legislation.
• Haley was praised by the Wall Street Journal: "The best effort we've heard so far is Nikki Haley's speech on Tuesday combining the moral case against abortion with a politics of persuasion and humility."

Additional links

• Washington Post: Henry Olsen: Pay attention to Nikki Haley, Republicans. This is how to talk about abortion
• Washington Examiner: Nikki Haley gives the abortion speech every Republican must hear
• Wall Street Journal: Nikki Haley gets real on abortion
• Haley speech to SBA Gala, 2019

Conservatives praised Haley's commonsense approach

• Former Michigan Republican nominee for governor Tudor Dixon, Fox News: When I saw Nikki Haley in her answer, it was so wonderful. She talked about embracing this as being a personal issue for every man and woman. She talked about the reality of it. You have to have 60 Senate votes. You have to have the majority of the House. She said, folks, this is not something that we can just come out and say we're going to do, but can't we all agree that we need to ban late-term abortions? We need to encourage adoptions. We shouldn't force doctors and nurses to perform abortions. Contraception should be available. She said, we're not going to put any women in jail or give her the death penalty for having an abortion. It was the perfect response. It was the perfect response.
• Kim Strassel, Fox News: I think Nikki Haley is absolutely correct to point out the practical realities of this and she's correct—you need 60 senators to get across a 15-week abortion ban and I don't see that happening anytime soon. And her point, which, by the way, I think is a winner out there for Republicans, which have been stumbling around trying to figure out where to land on abortion—her point is, let's, at the federal level, attempt to cohere around issues on which there is a consensus in this country, which there are many areas—late-term abortions, the availability of contraception, the need for more adoptions. I think that's not only a position that speaks truth to reality, but I think presents the Republican Party in a more compassionate way that would reflect better for them with suburban voters and others who have been very worried about their position on this.
• Wall Street Journal editorial board: If Nikki Haley gets a bump in the polls from Wednesday's presidential debate, one reason will be that she respected viewers by telling them the truth. Ms. Haley said, accurately, that passing a national abortion ban at 15 weeks is politically off the table, since it would require 60 votes in the Senate. She has argued this before, but many Republicans might be hearing it for the first time.
• Matthew Continetti, New York Times: Haley made the most of her time before the cameras. She needed to remind G.O.P. voters that she was in the race, and why. She succeeded on both counts. And her answer on abortion proved that she is just as interested in winning the general election as the primary.
• Katheryn Lopez, National Review: Politics is the absolute worst place to talk about abortion. And yet that's the primary arena in which we debate it. Life after Roe v. Wade means that just about every election is about abortion. And that hurts people — because many people have been involved in abortions, one way or another. It's necessary because we must debate law and policy. But how can the debate become more compassionate? How can it become more humane? Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley led the way during the first Republican primary debate.
• CNN political commentator and GOP strategist Alice Stewart, CNN: ??What suburban women want is a candidate that's going to speak the truth, and Nikki Haley is out there being truthful about Donald Trump's record. She's being truthful about what we can actually accomplish in the future on abortion.
• Margaret Hoover, CNN: If Republicans want to learn a lesson, finally, on this issue of abortion, in which they continue to get beaten time after time in the polls, they could do nothing better than have Nikki Haley be the nominee for the party.
• Mark Tepper, Fox Business: Winners, I'm going to go with Nikki Haley... I think she did an incredible job on the most important, most passionate issue that voters are concerned about right now, and that's her stand on abortion. She did very well there.
• Megan McArdle, Washington Post: My vote would be for Nikki Haley. She is a good standard bearer for the GOP, in part because of her answer on abortion. She is conservative but she can speak to people who are not as conservative as the Republican base. She's fast on her feet, she's experienced, she knows a lot.
• Alice Stewart, CNN: Nikki Haley has hit the sweet spot. We need to stop demonizing each side... we need to stop the judging... At least she is being honest with people.