Nikki Haley raised some eyebrows when she invoked the word ‘consensus’ on how she would handle the abortion question, while Vivek offered a fresh Pro-Life argument you don’t normally hear.
Nikki Haley is considered one of the more ‘moderate’ (critics would say ‘establishment’) candidates for the GOP nomination. And because she’s the only woman who has declared so far, people will be especially interested in her answer to the hot-button question of the cycle: what is your stance on abortion?
She gave what could be considered a ‘nuanced’ or ‘realist’ understanding of the issue.
In her speech at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in suburban Washington, Ms. Haley suggested a limited federal role in setting abortion rules, with most decisions at the state level.
“Different people in different places are taking different paths,” she said. “That’s what the founders of our country envisioned. It’s the reality of living in a democracy.”
Ms. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, also said both parties should agree that “contraception should be more available, not less.”
Ms. Haley said any efforts at the federal level would have to be modest, as Republicans are unlikely to both control the White House and have large enough majorities in Congress to pass more aggressive restrictions. Congressional Democrats support broad access to abortion.
“We have to face this reality: the pro-life laws that have passed in strongly Republican states will not be approved at the federal level,” she said, while shying away from specifics.
As governor, Ms. Haley signed into law a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. — WSJ
As for the Federal role, she said saving lives could happen by ‘finding consensus’, but did not elaborate on what she meant by that.
In a nutshell, she realized even the most militant supporters of a pro-life do not have the tools to take such a view nationally. Instead, she echoed the Dobbs decision and deferred to Federalism as a way to have strong protections for life in red states, while leaving room in blues states for activists to press for incremental change in that direction.
To nationalize the right for Federal government to dictate the rules for all states is to empower the government to do exactly the sort of thing Biden has been doing with this issue for the past year or so.
Vivek Ramaswamy took a different approach, even if their actual beliefs are not that far apart.
Instead of carefully couching his beliefs in nuance, he led with an unflinchingly bold position on the critical question of when life begins and then followed up by explaining the Federalist realities that constrain any path forward.
“Life ends right when … brainwaves end — that’s how we determine when life ends on the back end. I think we should apply a consistent principle on the front end, that’s around the six-week mark that brainwaves do begin,” Ramaswamy told Fox News’s America’s Newsroom Wednesday.
“This is not an answer for the president, because I think the federal government should be out of this. But if you’re a governor or you’re dealing with this in the states, I can share with you my opinion on it,” Ramaswamy said. — WashingtonExaminer
Why is this position on brainwaves important? Because anyone who claims to long for the ‘good old days’ of Roe v. Wade is forced to admit that the decision they want to have back argued for the rights of BOTH the mother AND the unborn child, stating there was a government interest in defending BOTH.
The complicating factor was the very same point that Obama carefully hedged his bets on — when does the life of that child whose well-being the State has an obligation to protect actually begin? Vivek uses the Brain waves argument (roughly six weeks) as a guideline for when that obligation to protect life kicks in.
These two ideas (brain waves and Roe V. Wade obligation to protect life) have not yet been fused together but it would be interesting to see how the pro-abortion side reacts to such an objective measurement whose symmetry with how we determine the END of natural life is uncontested.
As for the usual questions of rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother — Vivek is willing to concede carve-outs in those instances.
John The Baptist: A Rude Awakening Precedes A Great Awakening.
This timely little tome chronicles the politically incorrect ministry of one of God’s most effective wildmen, John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Christ’s ministry.
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In our putrid, worldly culture that has turned away from God, this book is a must-read for every Christian.
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