Pence says he hopes conservative majority on Supreme Court will restrict abortion access

Former Vice President Mike Pence said at a forum in Hungary Thursday that he hopes the Supreme Court’s conservative majority will result in further abortion restrictions in the U.S.

“We may well have a fresh start in the cause of life in America,” Pence said, according to ABC News. “It is our hope and our prayer that in the coming days, a new conservative majority on the Supreme Court of the United States will take action to restore the sanctity of life at the center of American law.”

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 1 on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which poses a direct challenge to the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.

Pence also expressed concern over falling birthrates and other social trends at the forum, which was focused on family values and attended by conservative European leaders.

“We see a crisis that brings us here today, a crisis that strikes at the very heart of civilization itself. The erosion of the nuclear family marked by declining marriage rates, rising divorce, widespread abortion and plummeting birthrates,” Pence said, according to ABC. 

The Budapest Demographic Summit, which started in 2015, has established itself as a platform for Western leaders to speak about conservative issues and encourage families to have more children, ABC noted. 

In addition to securing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court with three new justices, the Trump administration also appointed 300 conservative judges to federal courts across the U.S., whose rulings have impacted issues like the Affordable Care Act, abortion and executive power.  

Pence’s comments come amid his efforts to raise $18 million ahead of a potential 2024 presidential run. The former vice president has launched a nonprofit political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, and has reportedly been strengthening relationships with allies should he choose to run. 

Pence’s remarks on abortion also come as GOP state legislatures across the country look to emulate Texas’s “fetal heartbeat” bill that went into effect earlier this month. A Republican state lawmaker in Florida this week filed an abortion bill similar to the one in Texas.