Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told a group in New Hampshire that while she is “unapologetically pro-life,” the “fellas” have been “demonizing” the issue of abortion for “too long” and “it is time that we start treating it like the sensitive topic that it is.”
“I am unapologetically pro-life, not because the Republican Party tells me to be but because my husband is adopted and I had trouble having both of my children,” Haley said at Rotary Club luncheon Thursday at the Portsmouth Country Club. “So I am surrounded by blessings. Having said that, this issue is personal for every woman and every man. So I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice any more than I want you to judge me for being pro-life.”
Haley said federal legislation that would ban abortion was highly unlikely, saying, “So the question that you’re seeing debated right now is, ‘Is there a place for a federal law?’ And I think that there is. But to have a federal law, they need to tell you the truth and I don’t think anyone has told the American people the truth.”
She explained that to pass such a law would require a supermajority of 60 U.S. senators, adding, “We haven’t had 60 Republican senators in over a 100 years. We might have 45 pro-life senators. So no Republican president can ban abortion any more than a Democrat president can ban these state laws,” she said.
“So why don’t we just find consensus?” she asked. “Can’t we agree that we don’t want late-term abortions? Can’t we agree that we should encourage adoptions and better quality adoptions? Can’t we agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe in abortion shouldn’t have to perform them?”
“Can’t we agree that contraception should be accessible?” she continued. “And can’t we agree that no state law should say that any woman who’s had an abortion can go to jail or get the death penalty? Let’s just start there.”
“We have to humanize this issue,” she declared. “I am not going to be part of demonizing this issue, it’s too personal to everyone. And the fellas have done that for too long. No offense.”
“But it is time that we start treating it like the sensitive topic that it is,” she continued. “I had a roommate who was raped in college. I wouldn’t wish anything — I wouldn’t wish that on anyone to see what she went through wondering if she was pregnant. Everybody’s got a story. And every person’s story needs to be respected.”
“So that’s the way I will handle it, is we’re going to make it about how do we save as many babies as we can and support as many moms as we can. And that’s the conversation I choose to have when it comes to pro-life and abortion,” she concluded.