ABOARD TRUMP FORCE TWO – As the Republican Party redefines its messaging on abortion and in-vitro fertilization, Ohio Sen. JD Vance faces the reality of merging his Catholic beliefs with his role as Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, spoke to The Post in an interview on Wednesday about how his religious beliefs influence his policies and how he sees his role in politics – specifically on abortion and IVF.
The Catholic Church is not only against abortion, but also IVF because extra embryos are commonly discarded. It is also against any methods, such as artificial insemination, that involve a man producing sperm outside of sex.
The 40-year-old senator explained that while the Catholic Church is important to how he views policy issues, all the teachings don’t necessarily have to be enacted into policy – because he recognizes that we live in a “Democratic society.”
His views echo former President Donald Trump’s, who has stressed that he wants abortion to be left up to the states after Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago.
“Catholic social teaching is obviously very robust. I think that no person who, or at least no one I know who’s Catholic, doesn’t accept that just because the Catholic Church teaches something, doesn’t mean you necessarily as a legislator need to affect that to public policy,” Vance said aboard Trump Force Two, flying back to Ohio after a campaign stop in Michigan.
If elected to the White House, Vance would be the second Catholic vice president in history – behind President Biden – and would be the first Republican to hold that position.
“I think it certainly influences how you think about issues, it certainly influences how I think about issues,” he told The Post. “But I think that there are a lot of things the Catholic Church teaches that frankly, Americans would just never go for.”
Trump’s 2024 Republican Party platform, adopted by the Republican National Committee, omitted reference to a federal abortion ban and stated the decision should be left to the states. The campaign is not talking much about abortion in its messaging and is trying to win over a wide slate of voters by instead focusing in on the economy and the border – two issues that polls show are the most important to voters.
Vance told Laura Ingraham on Wednesday that he doesn’t see abortion as a top issue for suburban women, arguing “they care about inflation, they care about the price of groceries, they care about public safety in the streets where their kids play.”
He told The Post, “you have to accept that you live in a Democratic society where you have to give people a full voice in the society. You have to give people their ability to have their own moral views reflected in public policy. There are a lot of non Catholics in America and I accept that.”
Personally, the 40-year-old senator said his pro-family beliefs “certainly comes” from his “view of Catholicism.”
“I think a lot of the pro family stuff certainly comes from my view of Catholicism, Catholic social teaching. Catholicism asks you to think about those vulnerable people and sorts of asks you to think about what you can do to make their lives better, and what you can do to be helpful,” he said.
“Obviously it just gives you a certain grounding that has been very helpful on the campaign trail, and I’m sure will continue to be.”
Vance has spoken out in favor of IVF treatments in the past, telling WCMH-TV in February that he and Trump and “pretty much every Republican that I know is pro-fertility treatments.”
He also said he was in favor of leaving abortion up to the states during his 2022 Senate campaign, but did show openness to the possibility of “some minimum national standard.”
