James Antle of the Washington Examiner explores an interesting piece of the Republican presidential election strategy.
One of the more eye-catching moments in the vice presidential debate was when Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) called on the Republican Party to “be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word.”“I want us to support fertility treatments. I want us to make it easier for moms to afford to have babies,” Vance said.
“I want to make it easier for young families to afford a home so they can afford a place to raise that family. And I think there’s so much that we can do on the public policy front just to give women more options.”
This discussion came in the context of abortion, where Vance tried to demonstrate empathy and compassion rather than hostility to “childless cat ladies,” a line that has become central to Democratic attacks against the senator and Hillbilly Elegy author.
“I grew up in a working-class family in a neighborhood where I knew a lot of young women who had unplanned pregnancies and decided to terminate those pregnancies because they feel like they didn’t have any other options,” he said. “And, you know, one of them is actually very dear to me. And I know she’s watching tonight, and I love you.”
It is part of a rebranding of social conservatism pushed by former President Donald Trump. perhaps out of necessity. Abortion has become one of the Democrats’ top issues since Trump-appointed justices delivered the vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Referendums promoting permissive abortion laws have passed virtually everywhere they have been put on the ballot, including deeply red states. Same-sex marriage is as entrenched in public opinion as it is enshrined in judicial precedent. There was a huge backlash against Republicans when access to in vitro fertilization treatments appeared even momentarily in danger due to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.