SPARTANBURG, S.C. — While touting his anti-abortion credentials, former Vice President Mike Pence said the country could see a "fresh start" if the Supreme Court follows through on a leaked draft opinion and overturns Roe v. Wade.
But Pence, a 2024 potential presidential candidate, added that he's not thinking about the political implications of such a court decision ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
"Having been involved in the cause of the right-to-life for all of my adult life, politics is the least of my concerns, that we have a historic opportunity to restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law, and I welcome that," Pence told reporters.
He spoke Thursday before the Carolina Pregnancy Center annual gala in the Upstate. His stops in South Carolina Thursday included a visit to Rock Hill's Lakewood Baptist Church, where he also spoke about overturning Roe v. Wade.
The issue of the Supreme Court and whether it could overturn Roe v. Wade became an issue in the last two presidential elections as seats opened up after the deaths of justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Those vacancies energized conservative voters in both elections.
Pence's speech in front of 1,300 people took place days after a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked and published by Politico. The decision, if it holds, would allow each state to decide whether they want to allow abortion within their borders.
"We may well be in a place where five justices of the Supreme Court are poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade and give the American people a fresh start on life by returning the question of abortion to the states and to the American people," Pence said told reporters before the speech.
Pence touted how the Trump administration put in policies to prevent tax money from paying for abortion access around the world; sent money to crisis pregnancy centers similar to the Carolina Pregnancy Center; and voted to allow states to have the option to not send money to Planned Parenthood.
He also said he signed legislation as governor of Indiana that banned elective abortion based on a child's race, gender or disability.
Democrats' criticism
Pence's speech at the Carolina Pregnancy Center gala brought criticism from the Democratic National Committee and other left-leaning groups.
"The right for people to make their own health care decisions — a right secured and reaffirmed for the last 50 years — is almost gone for millions of Americans," said Grace Hagerty, a spokeswoman for American Bridge 21st Century. "But that isn't stopping Mike Pence, a far-right extremist daydreaming he might be the next president, from speaking at a fringe organization that spreads lies about reproductive health care."
Pence's visit to South Carolina Thursday was his third public trip to the early presidential primary state since leaving office. Pence also spoke in 2021 at the Palmetto Family Council dinner and last weekend at Columbia International University's commencement ceremony.
The draft opinion could galvanize left-leaning voters ahead of the midterm elections as Democrats may struggle and lose control of both chambers in Congress with rising inflation causing higher prices around the country.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters ahead of Pence's speech that if Republicans take control of Congress and Roe is overturned, he will push for a 20-week ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
"The bottom line is I would expect Congress to act on bills like mine," Graham said.
