New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced his support for a federal 20-week abortion ban on Monday, becoming the last Republican presidential hopeful to publicly back such a measure.
“I am proud to be a pro-life Republican. I believe that every life is an individual gift from God, and that no life is disposable,” Christie said in a statement.
Christie also urged Congress to take up a bill known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation would prohibit abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the stage at which pro-life supporters have argued that fetuses can feel pain – although scientists and studies have disputed such claims.
Christie’s position was provided to the anti-abortion group Susan B Anthony List, which has been highlighting where potential GOP 2016 candidates stand on the 20-week ban. It previously listed the New Jersey governor as the only contender who had yet to support the proposal.
Christie has a complex history on the subject of abortions, once identifying as pro-choice only to flip on the issue in recent years. Viewed skeptically by the GOP’s right wing, at conservative gatherings Christie has made a point to tout the number of times he vetoed funding for Planned Parenthood.
Emily’s List, the group that helps elect pro-choice women to office, noted Christie’s shift to the right in its reaction to his embrace of the 20-week abortion ban.
“Chris Christie’s political opportunism has driven him just about as far to the right on choice as it’s possible to go – and this proves it,” Emily’s List spokeswoman Jess McIntosh said in a statement. “From defunding abortion clinics to blocking funds to Planned Parenthood, Chris Christie never misses a chance to remind voters he’s just as anti-choice as the rest of them.”
All of the rumored Republican presidential candidates are in favor of the 20-week abortion ban. South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who has said he is mulling a run, even introduced a federal fetal pain bill in the Senate and has been seeking a vote on the legislation. Other contenders have pushed bills curbing access to abortion at a state level, such as Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and former Texas governor Rick Perry.
Although Americans remain divided on the issue of abortion, the GOP has struggled among women voters due in part to extreme rhetoric on reproductive rights. Following some high-profile incidents in 2012, where a handful of candidates lost after making controversial comments on rape, Republicans were put through “sensitivity” training aimed at making them better communicators with women voters.
The GOP has pressed forward with its anti-abortion agenda, though not without some hiccups. Just two months ago, Republicans in the House of Representatives were dealt an embarrassing blow when they had to cancel a vote on a 20-week abortion ban due to its narrow rape exception.
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