Nikki Haley Warns Republicans Against Putting Women in Jail Over Abortions

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley warned on Monday that Republicans should avoid legislation that seeks to jail women who have abortions.

"Can't we agree that no state law should say to a woman that if she has an abortion she's going to jail or get the death penalty, let's just start there," Haley said at a Pints & Politics event in Charleston, South Carolina. "I will not be a part of demonizing this issue."

Haley said that she is "unapologetically pro-life" because her husband was adopted and she had trouble with the births of her children.

"I mean, no offense, but the fellas don't know how to talk about this, and they just don't....The issue of abortion is incredibly personal to every woman and every man, and it requires respect," Haley said.

The context

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right for women to receive an abortion, it has remained a hot topic, and candidates like Haley, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have offered somewhat different stances.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Republican-led states had "trigger laws" in place that immediately banned abortions.

What we know

Last year, CNN reported that Louisiana state Representative Danny McCormick proposed legislation that sought to criminalize abortions, giving women who receive them jail time.

While speaking with CBS' Face the Nation last month, Haley was asked about her stance on abortion and said, "Yes, I'm unapologetically pro-life."

She added that she was "fine" with a federal law banning abortions.

"I've said I'm fine with a federal law. But the thing is, in order to get a federal law, you have to have a majority of the House, 60 senators and a signature of the president," Haley said.

Newsweek reached out to Haley's press office via email for comment.

Views

Biden has expressed his support for allowing women to receive abortions.

"As the President has made clear since the day of the Dobbs decision, the only way to ensure women in every state have access to abortion is for Congress to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade," the White House said in a statement in June.

Similarly, last month, Biden said: "As long as I have power of the presidency, if Congress were to pass a national abortion ban, I would veto it."

What's next

Abortion rights are likely to remain a major topic of the upcoming election, where Trump remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination.

While speaking with NBC's Meet the Press in September, Trump was asked about his views on a federal abortion ban to which he responded by saying "It could be state or it could be federal, I don't frankly care."

"I would sit down with both sides and I'd negotiate something, and we'll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years. I'm not going to say I would or I wouldn't," Trump added.

Update 2/5/24, 1:15 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.