Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley delivered a major address at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the most prominent pro-life organizations in the country on Tuesday during which she blamed the media for having “stoked division” on the issue.

“The next president must find national consensus. That might sound strange to many people,” began Haley:

Under Roe, consensus was replaced by demonization, and let’s be honest: most in the media prioritized demonization. They stoked division, pitting Americans against each other. No one talks about finding consensus, everyone goes to the barricades and attacks the other side. They’ve taken a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war. How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for? And the list goes on

Abortion figures to play a more prominent role than usual in both the GOP primary and general election because of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, and some observers have blamed the decision for Republicans’ underperformance in the 2020 midterms and posited that it could be integral to President Joe Biden’s reelection strategy.

On Tuesday, Haley touted her pro-life credentials while articulating a conciliatory approach to the issue.

“These questions miss the point if the goal is about saving as many lives as possible,” continued Haley. “You don’t save any lives if you can’t enact your position into law, and you can’t do that unless you find consensus.”

The former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump explained during her address that her position is the result of her husband’s adoption story as well as her own fertility troubles, but that she respected how others’ stories led them to the opposite conclusion.

“Reaching consensus starts with humanizing, not demonizing. Just like I have my story, I respect everyone who has their story. I don’t judge someone who’s pro-choice anymore than I want them to judge me for being pro-life,” argued Haley.

Substantively, Haley implied that she would sign some kind of federal limit on abortion into law, although she eschewed committing to signing or vetoing any particular measure. “I do believe there is a federal role on abortion,” said Haley, who nevertheless acknowledged that “No Republican president will have the ability to ban abortion nationwide.”

Haley’s commitment to some kind of federal role on the issue can be contrasted with the position of her boss turned rival, Donald Trump.

In a statement delivered to the Washington Post last week, a spokesman for the Trump campaign said that “President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the State level.”

The statement faced backlash from a variety of prominent pro-lifers, including SBA Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser, who called Trump’s position “morally indefensible.”

“We will oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace at a minimum a 15-week national standard to stop painful late-term abortions while allowing states to enact further protections,” she added.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

The post Nikki Haley Accuses Media of Having ‘Stoked Division’ on Abortion, Pledges to Find ‘Consensus’ first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/QoXmbd4