JD Vance's Resurfaced Abortion Comment Sparks Anger: 'Dystopia Scary'

Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance has been condemned after comments he made suggesting there should be a "federal response" to stop women traveling to get abortions reemerged online.

The Ohio senator, a known advocate for abortion restrictions, previously told a podcast in January 2022 that the wants the procedure to be "illegal nationally" and that steps should be taken to prevent women from going out of state in order to receive them.

Vance also suggested that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which the Supreme Court later did in June 2022, and Ohio banned abortions, then there could be a scenario in which liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros would fly "disproportionately Black women" out to California to get the medical procedure.

"If that happens, do you need some federal response to prevent it from happening? Because it's really creepy," Vance said.

The comments have since been widely reshared on social media, including by the campaign team of Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee.

While sharing the remarks, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy posted on X, formerly Twitter: "You need to listen to this. Like dystopia scary.

"It's not enough for them to tell women when they can have children or what health care they can get. Now they want to control where women can travel."

Hawaii Senator Brain Schatz added while sharing the audio: "This legitimately shocked me. Please do listen. Any description of how offensive it is won't do it justice."

Political commentator Brian Krassenstein wrote: "Don't believe Trump/Vance when they say it should be left up to the states to decide. They want the federal government to seemingly re-create parts of 'The Handmaid's Tale.' This is who you are voting for if you vote for Trump/Vance in November."

Prominent blogger Matthew Yglesias posted: "This is of course very much just the logic of the anti-abortion view—the point of banning abortion isn't to inconvenience women by making them go to a neighboring state, you need to actually stop them from doing it."

Vance's office has been contacted for comment via email.

Vance appeared on the Very Fine People podcast while he was still running for the Ohio Senate seat, something he eventually won in no small part to an endorsement from Trump.

CNN first reported that Vance told the podcast in January 2022 that he "certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally."

This is in contrast to more recent remarks in which Vance said he backs Trump's idea that it should be up to individual states to decide how it manages abortions.

Elsewhere on the show, Vance said: "OK, here's a situation. Let's say Roe v. Wade is overruled. Ohio bans abortion, let's say 2024, and then every day George Soros sends a 747 to Columbus to load up disproportionately Black women to get them to go have abortions in California. And of course, the left will celebrate this as a victory for diversity.

"And it's like, if that happens, do you need some federal response to prevent it from happening? Because it's really creepy. I'm pretty sympathetic to that actually."

In November 2023, Ohio voters approved a motion to enshrine abortion protections in the state's constitution in a historic referendum.

Vance has continued to face mounting criticism for his past views since he was picked as the next potential Republican vice president.

These include comments he made during a 2021 appearance on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight in which he attacked Democrats, including Harris, as "childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives."

Vance was also criticized for his previous calls for a strict abortion bans, including in the case of rape or incest.

"It's not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term. It's whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child's birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society," Vance said in 2021. "The question really, to me, is about the baby."

In a recent interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Vance accused the Democrats of misquoting his views by claiming he said a pregnancy from rape or incest was "inconvenient."

"The Democrats have completely twisted my words," Vance said. "What I did say is that we sometimes in this society see babies as inconveniences, and I absolutely want us to change that."