In response to Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins’ new interview, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump said there is a ‘vital role’ for the federal government in banning abortion, JD Vance wants abortion to be ‘illegal nationally’ – and now their Project 2025 ally is saying abortion should be ‘unavailable’ and ‘unthinkable.’ The Trump-Vance ticket’s dangerous Project 2025 agenda, written for them by their anti-choice allies, includes banning abortion nationwide with or without Congress, and it’s clear that they’ll stop at nothing to rip away reproductive freedoms from millions of women.”

In a new interview, Students for Life of America President and Project 2025 partner Kristan Hawkins said abortion should be “unavailable” and “unthinkable.”

Kristan Hawkins: “We should make abortion unthinkable, but I’m over here going, well, it should also be unavailable too.” 

Newsweek: “Project 2025: Full List of Organizations Behind Proposals”

“Students for Life of America”

Hawkins previously said the RNC platform “absolutely” paves the way for a national abortion ban, made clear Trump and Vance’s anti-choice allies want “no abortions in any state,” opposed exceptions, and pledged to fight to end medication abortion access.

Jane Coaston, New York Times: “My last question is a yes or no question, which is challenging, but let’s see if we can do it. Does the 2024 Republican National Committee platform get you closer to your goal of abolishing abortion and making it “illegal and unthinkable?”

Hawkins: “Yes, absolutely. The 14th Amendment is in there.”

Hawkins: “We have said from the very beginning, even when we were suffering under the tyranny of Roe v. Wade, that the ultimate goal of the pro-life movement is to see no abortions in any state and women and families served and protected from the predatory abortion industry.”

Hawkins: “We were pleased to see that the 14th Amendment was actually in the platform — that took some education…

[…]

Coaston: “As the Republican Party seems to set aside discussing the idea of a national abortion ban, is the long-term goal to get that 14th Amendment Supreme Court opinion?”

Hawkins: “Yeah. I don’t think that has been a hidden agenda at all within the pro-life movement.”

[…]

Hawkins: “The Supreme Court did not say chemical abortions are good to go. They said the case had not been handled correctly, and they didn’t feel that the plaintiffs were the ones that could bring the suit. We’ll be back at the Supreme Court on that issue.”

[…]

Hawkins: “I could never say certain children should be sentenced to death because of their parents’ income levels or circumstances of their conception…”

If given the chance, Donald Trump and JD Vance would ban abortion nationwide with their dangerous Project 2025 agenda.

Rolling Stone: “Trump Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide: Report”

Trump: “There of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life. And it’s very important.” 

Trump on if he would sign a six-week national abortion ban: “I’m looking at all options.”

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

“During a podcast interview in January 2022, then-candidate JD Vance said he ‘certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally’ and was ‘sympathetic’ to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.”

Newsweek: “J.D. Vance Backs ‘National Standard’ for Abortions”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

New Republic: “On January 20, 2025, conservatives plan to resurrect a 150-year-old defunct law to ban abortion across the nation. This is not a secret plan—far from it. It’s part of the 180-Day Playbook produced by Project 2025, detailing priorities for an incoming conservative president on day one. These 900 pages lay out a Christian nationalist vision of the United States, one in which married heterosexuality is the only valid form of sexual expression and identity; all pregnancies would be carried to term, even if that requires coercion or death; and transgender and gender-nonconforming people do not exist…

“The playbook says the president should enforce a 150-year-old law, the Comstock Act, which right-wing groups see as a way to ban abortion nationally because it outlaws the use of the mail for the purposes of sending or receiving any object that could be used for an abortion.”

Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”

Axios: “[Project 2025] is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

New York Times: “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. The lesson of Trump’s first year in office, Roberts told me, is that ‘the Trump administration … simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.’”

REALITY CHECK: Attacks on reproductive rights, like Trump and Vance’s anti-choice Project 2025 agenda to rip away reproductive freedoms, are wildly unpopular.

USA Today: “Americans overwhelmingly oppose the next goal of many anti-abortion activists, to enact a federal law banning abortion nationwide. By 80%-14%, those surveyed opposed that idea, including 65% of Republicans and 83% of independents.”

Axios: “Record share of U.S. voters back abortion rights and will vote on it: Gallup”

NBC News: “Abortion rights have won in every election since Roe v. Wade was overturned”

Axios: “Most Americans support abortion access one year after Roe v. Wade: poll”

CNN Poll: “About two-thirds (65%) oppose the 2022 Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and 34% approve, numbers that have remained effectively unchanged in CNN’s polling across the nearly two years since the ruling. Those who strongly disapprove of the decision continue to outnumber those who strongly approve by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

“A 69% majority who disapprove of overturning Roe, including 82% of those who strongly disapprove, say that federal politicians should work to pass laws ensuring national abortion access.”

Axios: “There’s widespread support for letting women obtain drugs for medication abortion from their doctor or a clinic, with 72% supporting — including half of Republicans.”