Mike Pence to talk ‘post-Roe world’ in another visit to early-voting state SC
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is eyeing a possible 2024 Republican presidential run, will be back in South Carolina this month to address the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling at a Florence Baptist church.
The church, Florence Baptist Temple, said on Facebook and advertised on its website that the former vice president will speak on the “post-Roe world” at 7 p.m. on July 20.
Dave Wilson, president and executive director of Palmetto Family Council, a faith-based advocacy organization, said Pence plans to unveil a “life after Roe” policy which will play counter to an executive order President Joe Biden signed Friday.
The order, in part, protects abortion access and emergency contraception, and provide legal options for someone seeking and providing abortion.
Wilson said he expects more than 1,000 people to show up at the event.
“Especially because it’s going to be in an area of the state that the vice president hasn’t had an opportunity to visit in a while,” Wilson said. “And I think there is an energy that is in that area of the state right now, especially because you saw that in the fact that Russell Fry ended up defeating Tom Rice, there is an energy for a political involvement there.”
Pence has made several visits to the state since the Trump administration, most recently headlining a May fundraiser at a Spartanburg crisis pregnancy center and speaking at another Baptist church in Rock Hill, near the North Carolina border.
Pence has pushed to outlaw abortion in every state since the court overturned its 1973 landmark ruling Roe v. Wade in June.
South Carolina’s current law bans abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother and fetal anomaly. The Republican-led General Assembly is likely this year to pass a more restrictive ban, with the House recently starting public listening sessions that have focused almost entirely on whether to keep exceptions in place.
Pence isn’t the only Republican mulling a possible 2024 run who has made plenty of visits to early-voting states.
Former Trump administration official and Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott have each made separate trips to Iowa. In another visit, Scott will headline a barbecue fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in August, the Sioux City Journal reported Monday.
“I think South Carolina holds a very important role in setting the stage for national politics. Being an early primary state, anyone with national significance coming into our state is a tone setter for the policies and the issues that we’re going to hear in a presidential election season,” Wilson said. “And whether we’re there or not yet, we are in the pre-stages of the presidential primary season in South Carolina. And so I think you’re going to be hearing a lot of voices coming through this state, really pushing forward on conservative issues, and trying to distinguish themselves from each other.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 7:31 AM.
