In response to new reporting on JD Vance railing against abortion access, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“JD Vance has shown us exactly who he is over and over again: An anti-choice extremist who will stop at nothing to ban abortion nationwide with Donald Trump. It’s disgusting that Vance — who wants abortion to be ‘illegal nationally’ and attacked exceptions for rape and incest by saying ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ — is dismissing reproductive health care as a ploy for ‘cheap labor.’ The more Trump and Vance attack our basic freedoms, the more the American people see them for the dangerous anti-choice MAGA extremists they truly are.”

ON THE RECORD: JD Vance said companies supporting abortion rights really just want a pool of “cheap labor.”

Christian Science Monitor: “In the same 2021 speech, Mr. Vance argued that companies supporting abortion rights really just want a pool of ‘cheap labor,’ with workers unburdened by the cost and time commitment of caring for children… he said: … ‘When the big corporations come against you for passing abortion restrictions, when corporations are so desperate for cheap labor that they don’t want people to parent children, she’s right to say that abortion restrictions are bad for business.’”

REMINDER: Vance has previously encouraged attacks on corporations that defend abortion access.

ProPublica: “He argued that conservatives needed to take action against corporations that, say, defended abortion rights or punished employees who spoke out against abortion access. ‘If we’re unwilling to make companies that are taking the side of the left in the culture wars feel real economic pain, then we’re not serious about winning the culture war,’ he said.”

Vance’s anti-choice record includes saying he wants abortion to be “illegal nationally,” attacking exceptions for rape and incest, comparing abortion to slavery, and more.

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

“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.”

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

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

Vice: “JD Vance Compared Abortion to Slavery”

The Hill: “Vance has a strong anti-abortion record and was given an A+ ranking by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group. 

“He campaigned against Ohio’s 2023 ballot measure that guaranteed the right to abortion, and previously said he’d vote for a nationwide abortion ban at 15 weeks. 

“During his campaign for Senate, Vance applauded the overturning of Roe v. Wade and supported Texas’s ban on abortion, which does not allow exceptions other than cases where the mother’s life is at risk.  

“‘Two wrongs don’t make a right,’ he said in 2021 when asked whether abortion laws should allow for exceptions for rape and incest.” 

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block Democratic bill codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections”

“Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation led by Democrats to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade in the wake of the Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion.”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Vance also celebrated when Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for extreme abortion bans across the country (which Trump says are “working very brilliantly”).

JD Vance: “I think that what I really think on – so first of all, the Dobbs decision, everybody knows, overruled Roe v. Wade – I think that was the right decision.”

Trump: “I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of … Roe v. Wade.”

Trump: “We broke Roe v. Wade and we did something that nobody thought was possible. We gave it back to the states, and the states are working very brilliantly … But they’re working, and it’s working the way it’s supposed to.”

If given the chance, Trump and Vance will enact their Project 2025 agenda, which includes a national abortion ban.

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.”

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

New Republic: “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.

Semafor: “New polling shared exclusively with Semafor shows Democrats’ attacks on JD Vance’s views on abortion, divorce and ‘childless cat ladies’ are sticking with voters…

“…A 2021 interview with Spectrum News in which [Vance] defended a Texas abortion law’s lack of exceptions for rape and incest by suggesting pregnancies from such circumstances are ‘inconvenient.’ Sixty-two percent of voters said they were ‘bothered’ Vance used the word ‘inconvenient’ to describe pregnancies that stem from rape and incest with 50% reporting ‘it bothers me a lot.’”

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: “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.”