During Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance conceded that Republicans need to do a better job of regaining Americans' trust on the issue of abortion, delivering a more moderate response to the question of restrictions than the far-right position he previously espoused. But experts warn that abortion rights would still be at risk if former President Donald Trump regains power.
Responding to Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's claim that he and Trump will adopt Project 2025's proposed abortion surveillance policies, Vance recalled growing up in a working-class community where he knew “a lot of young women who decided to terminate those pregnancies.” He spoke of an unnamed friend who he said had aborted a pregnancy from an abusive relationship, how she told him keeping the pregnancy would have "destroyed her life" and how the exchange impacted his perspective.
