Rep. Mace: GOP Must Avoid Extremes on Abortion

Fellow Republicans will “lose huge” with voters if they continue to insist on strict abortion bans at the state level, Rep. Nancy Mace told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

The South Carolina Republican said, “We’re going to lose huge if we continue down this path of extremities … the vast majority of people want some sort of gestational limits, not at nine months but somewhere in the middle,” adding that most voters “want exceptions for rape and incest; they want women to have access to birth control.”

Mace made the comments two days after the Supreme Court paused a federal judge’s ruling to restrict access to mifepristone, saying she agreed with the decision regarding the widely used abortion pill and urged other Republicans to avoid extremes.

She pointed to a recent Florida bill signed into law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and other legislation introduced in South Carolina that could impose the death penalty on women who have abortions, saying these moves by the GOP are “the wrong message heading into ’24.”

Mace said that instead there are “very commonsense positions that we can take and still be pro-life.” 

The congresswoman’s remarks illustrate the ongoing divisions within the GOP over abortion bans. Mace pointed out that since the Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision last year, voters nationwide largely have become more motivated to reject attempts to restrict abortion.

“I saw what happened after Roe v. Wade because I represent a very purple district — as purple as this dress — and I saw the sentiment change dramatically,” Mace said. “And as Republicans, we need to read the room on this issue.”

Mace said Republicans have “buried our head in the sand [on the abortion issue]. We’re afraid to talk about it. Because we’re afraid, we want to go to the extreme corners of this issue. But that’s not where the vast majority of Americans are right now. And we’ve got to show compassion, especially to victims who’ve been raped.”