Former United Nations Ambassador and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she would sign a federal abortion ban if elected president, but also said people were not "honest" about how hard getting the legislation through Congress would be without electing more Republicans.
"It would take a majority of the House, 60 senators and a president to sign it," the Associated Press reported Haley as saying Wednesday at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. "We haven't had 60 Republican senators in 100 years."
According to the AP, Haley did not offer specifics on what such a ban would entail, or to what point abortions could be allowed.
Her comments come as the GOP primary field for the 2024 presidential election significantly increased this week with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joining the race.
As governor of South Carolina, Haley signed a ban on abortions around 20 weeks, which the state legislature is now trying to drop to six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision making abortion legal nationwide, the report said.
The high court ruled that abortion is not addressed directly in the Constitution as a right and should go back to the states to decide, a decision Haley agrees with, she said Wednesday.
Scott said he would support a 15-week ban. DeSantis has already signed a ban after six weeks in Florida.
Former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana, who is preparing to enter the race, has said he supports Florida's six-week ban, and would sign a similar law as president.
"Now it's back in the states where it belongs," Haley said Wednesday. "I can't suddenly change my pro-life position because I'm campaigning in New Hampshire. It's incredibly personal, and I'm going to treat it with the respect it deserves."
Former President Donald Trump, who is leading the GOP pack for the nomination, told a CNN town hall earlier this month that due to his SCOTUS appointments, the Republicans and pro-life movement finally have the leverage to negotiate for a consensus on the issue.
"We now have a great negotiating ability, and I think we're going to be able to get something done," Trump said during the forum.
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