Don’t be gaslighted: JD Vance is an anti-abortion extremist

JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, didn't mention abortion in his big speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday. In fact, it barely came up at the convention. That’s because Republicans have been looking at the polls showing what a political loser their position is. The word has obviously gone out to stay silent; the last thing they need is for Americans to know where they stand on the issue.

But on Thursday, Trump’s would-be VP helpfully cleared up the mystery. Speaking to an audience of the forced-birth faithful, Vance immediately reassured them that, of course, they would always have a place in the Trump administration. 

On Wednesday, The Washington Post also reported on Vance’s efforts to enforce the Comstock Act, the 19th-century “zombie” law that the right has championed as a backdoor effort to ban nearly all abortions—and not just in Republican-led states but nationwide. Last year, Vance and 40 of his Republican colleagues penned a letter to the Department of Justice urging enforcement of Comstock to prohibit the distribution by mail of mifepristone (the “abortion pill”). In that letter, Vance and his congressional colleagues likened the distribution of mifepristone to “mail order-abortion operations.” This follows statements Vance made in 2022, when he declared he “would like abortion to be illegal nationally.”

So yes, for the record, Vance is an anti-abortion extremist. But just how extreme is he? Well, for one thing, he wants to give law enforcement and prosecutors the ability to discover and track anyone who seeks abortion or reproductive care.