(NewsNation) — Republican Sen. JD Vance pushed back on the idea that his position on abortion contrasts with that of his running mate, former president Donald Trump, during NewsNation’s town hall Thursday.
The GOP vice presidential candidate said he and Trump both fundamentally want the same thing, which is to make it easier for Americans to “choose life” and that the former president has been clear about leaving the matter up to the states.
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“He wants to, first of all, make it easier for people to choose life to begin with, make it less expensive, help address child care costs and make it easier for young families to choose life in the first place,” the Ohio senator said during the event in Michigan.
Vance said Trump has been “consistent” in his position that states should make decisions on reproductive rights.
The issue has become a vulnerability for Republicans in this year’s election. Trump trails Vice President Kamala Harris on the issue of abortion, according to polling from The Associated Press this week.
This week, the Republican presidential nominee said some abortion laws are “too tough” and would be “redone.”
He also said earlier this month a national abortion ban was “off the table,” adding “that issue has been, in my opinion, largely diffused.”
Watch JD Vance’s full NewsNation town hall
Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the nationwide right to abortion two years ago.
Vance is opposed to abortion and called himself “100% pro-life” even in cases of rape and incest during his 2022 Senate run, telling The Washington Post in 2021, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
However, Vance said during the town hall that Trump was the leader of the Republican Party and that his policy determines where the GOP stands on the issue.
“Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, so his policy determines what we’re to do as a Republican governing coalition,” he said.
While he made the point at Thursday’s town hall, he also said that he “cares about protecting the vulnerable,” referring to unborn babies.
Vance said many women he saw having abortions growing up had to do so because they felt they had no other options.
“If we stop the crazy medical bills that young women come home with when they have a baby, if we make it easier to access child care, I actually think, one, we will earn the trust of the American people, but, two, we will actually be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” he said during the town hall.
Vance also said he is concerned about young families choosing not to have children.
“They’re choosing not to bring new life into the world. Even though they say they would like to, they feel like they can’t afford it. That is such a failure of our present leadership that a lot of people would like to have families but can’t. We’ve got to change that,” he said.
When asked if reproductive rights could affect the outcome of the election, Vance responded he is not a “political prognosticator” and that his only job is to make his case to the American people.