On the eve of oral arguments in the most consequential Supreme Court abortion case in a generation, former vice president Mike Pence is predicting that the days of Roe v. Wade are numbered.
"When the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade — and I believe with all my heart that day will come, either now or in the near future — it will not come as a surprise to anyone," Pence will say later today, according to a copy of his remarks previewed by National Review. "It will simply be the culmination of a 50-year journey whose course and destination have been set by the will of the American people."
At an event hosted by the Susan B. Anthony List at the National Press Club, Pence will defend Mississippi's 15-week limit on abortion — the law that's at the heart of the upcoming case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization — and urge the Court to overturn Roe and restore the ability of states to enact abortion laws.
Here's an excerpt from Pence's remarks as prepared for delivery:
Every serious legal scholar in America knows that the Roe decision was manufactured out of whole cloth to achieve a predetermined political and ideological goal. Even the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once wrote that the Court's decision in Roe was "heavy-handed judicial intervention that was difficult to justify."
Now our Supreme Court has a chance to right that historic wrong once and for all.
Despite what the abortion lobby says, the 15-week limit set forth by the Mississippi law is perfectly reasonable from a moral, scientific and constitutional perspective.
Thanks to advances in modern medicine, the humanity of a 15-week-old child in the womb is undeniable. At 15 weeks of development, a baby's face is well-formed. She has fingernails, eyebrows and hair. She can make a fist and suck her thumb. She has a beating heart. She can feel pain. And she is created in the image of God, the same as you or me.
"A 15-week limit on elective abortion is not extreme by any measure," Pence adds, noting that many European countries set limits on elective abortion at twelve to 14 weeks of pregnancy. "When it comes to abortion policy, America has more in common with China and North Korea than it does with the nations of Europe. By upholding Mississippi's law, the Supreme Court can move America away from the radical fringe and squarely back into the mainstream of Western thought and jurisprudence."
He goes on to say:
The fact is, Americans are ready for an end to the judicial tyranny of Roe v. Wade, and a return of this issue back to their democratically elected representatives and the people.
This is an important point to stress, because the left desperately wants to obscure it: the end of Roe does not mean an end to the debate over abortion policy. There will still be plenty of debate. But the decisions will no longer be made by unelected judges — but by elected officials chosen by, and accountable to, the American people.
It is easy to understand why progressives oppose allowing the democratic process to work when it comes to setting abortion policy. From the very moment Roe was decided, the American people have been making their preferences clear through the steady march of pro-life legislation enacted by their democratically elected representatives each and every year.
Pence's speech on Tuesday is the fourth policy speech he's delivered since the summer, and yet another sign that he has an eye on a 2024 presidential campaign. He spoke on U.S.–China relations in July and delivered two speeches in October: one outside of Portland, Ore., on law enforcement, and the other in Virginia on school choice and parents' rights.
Earlier this year, Pence's nonprofit Advancing American Freedom filed an amicus brief urging the Court to uphold the Mississippi law and overturn Roe. The amicus brief was filed jointly by Pence's organization and other pro-life groups, including The Family Leader, which is run by influential Iowa conservative Bob Vander Plaats.
"We are asking the Court, in no uncertain terms, to make history," Pence will say later today. "We are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade and restore the sanctity of human life to the center of American law."
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