Nikki Haley Says She 'Absolutely' Would Sign 15-Week Abortion Ban If GOP Had The Votes

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday said she is “unapologetically” anti-abortion, adding, though, that lawmakers from both parties would need to find consensus on the issue for a national ban to pass.

In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” the former U.S. ambassador the United Nations said enacting a federal law on abortion would require a majority in the House of Representatives, 60 votes in the Senate and a presidential signature.

“We do have to be honest with the American people” on what is feasible on the national level on abortion, Haley said, before declaring herself “absolutely pro-life.”

Haley estimated there are 45 lawmakers in the Senate who are opposed to abortion, meaning there’s “a long way to go.”

Haley said senators from both sides should look for areas of common ground, including on the fact that contraception should be available, as well as “consensus that no state law should put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty for having an abortion.”

She added lawmakers should encourage “good quality adoptions” and agree to ban late-term abortions and that doctors who are against the medical procedure should not be forced to perform it.

“Let’s start there and whatever 60 Senate votes come to, whether that’s 15 weeks, I absolutely would sign it,” she continued. 

As governor of South Carolina, Haley signed a 20-week abortion ban in 2016.

Last month, former Vice President Mike Pence pushed all of his rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination to come out in support of a 15-week abortion ban despite the fact that this position is not popular with voters.

The party underperformed in last November’s midterm elections, with many attributing the result to voters’ dissatisfaction with the GOP’s handling of the issue in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last summer.

Fourteen states have passed full bans on the procedure since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

Former President Donald Trump , the front-runner in the GOP presidential race, has not explicitly come out in favor of a national ban on abortion but has said “there of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.”