South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) spoke with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Wednesday and offered some tough love for House GOP colleagues on the issue of abortion.
Mace was asked by Mitchell to weigh in on two anti-abortion measures the House was likely to vote on Wednesday, one which would restrict federal funding for abortions and another that would add new regulations for how medical staff must treat babies born alive after an abortion.
“Again, as Garrett alluded to, this is a very, very small percentage of abortions. These are wanted pregnancies where the fetus has died or the life of the mother is in danger because the fetus could not survive outside the mother’s body. So how do you characterize your colleagues’ proposal?” asked Mitchell.
“Well, on this particular issue, I represent a swing district. And what I saw in the general election this year after overturning Roe v Wade, the number two issue after inflation, the number one issue after inflation. But the second issue in the district that I have in South Carolina was abortion, where the majority of people, men and women across my district and I would gather probably across the state of South Carolina, didn’t agree with overturning Roe v Wade,” Mace replied.
“And when I talk to people, Republicans, independents, and Democrats, this is an issue that is top of mind for folks. And, you know, we’re talking about these messaging bills this week,” said Mace, who previously called the bills “lip service to the pro-life movement.”
“I’m pro-life, but I have many exceptions. This is an issue that we should, that I want to see us take seriously,” she argued.
“And if we’re going to be serious about balancing the rights of women and protecting the right to life, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. This is probably not the way to start off the week,” Mace said, adding:
We should be looking at measures, for example, making sure every woman has access to birth control. If you really want to get serious about this issue and reduce unwanted pregnancies, well, I’ve got entire counties in South Carolina that don’t have a single OB-GYN, Doctor. Those are the issues that we really need to be talking about, making a real difference in women’s lives every single day all across the country.
“I think you’ve been very open about your own experience with sexual attack. How does something like this also affect women who are victims, women who are victims of criminal behavior?” Mitchell followed up.
“Well, we’re not at this point. And one of my frustrations is what are we doing to protect women who have been raped? What are we doing to protect girls who are victims of incest?” Mace replied, adding:
There was also another story a couple of weeks ago, as you know, there was a young woman who had to travel from Louisiana all the way to New York because she had a fetus that had no skull. And if she carried it to term, would put her own health and life in danger. I would like to see us be substantive. I would like to see us find some common ground that brings all these viewpoints together, because the vast majority of Americans, 85% of them, Republicans and Democrats alike, they’re not on the fringes of the far left or the far right on this issue.
And this is something I’ve talked about frequently. I was raped when I was 16 and I put exceptions for rape and incest and South Carolina’s fetal heartbeat bill a couple of years ago. That particular piece of legislation, that bill was actually overturned by the courts about a week ago is unconstitutional. And so there’s a way to balance women’s rights with the right to life. And we’ve got to find some common ground here. We need to be serious about it.
Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.
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