SC’s Tim Scott sharpens stance on abortion compared to some GOP hopefuls

South Carolina’s junior U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, one in a crowded field of Republicans vying for the presidential nomination, said he would sign “the most pro-life legislation” if he became president in an op-ed published Friday by the Des Moines Register.

He also wrote he would begin with a 15-week federal ban on the procedure, making one of his clearest statements to date on what abortion actions he’d take as president.

It’s a slight shift in Scott’s stance on the issue since mid-April, when he told WMUR he would “definitely” sign a 20-week ban and then dodged questions about the issue days later, including skirting a question about whether he would enact a federal six-week ban in an Axios interview in May.

While Scott has remained consistent in promoting his “pro-life” messaging, his specifics on legislation have so far been vague.

Saturday marks one year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that allowed constitutional rights to abortion. Republican presidential candidates have been ramping up their rhetoric on the issue, though many have stuck with vague language when it comes to what, exactly, they would do if elected.

Scott has been somewhat unclear about his exact stance on abortion legislation the past few months, but in Friday’s Des Moines Register op-ed, Scott affirmed he was “100% pro-life” and eager to sign “the most pro-life legislation the House and Senate can put on my desk” if elected president. He then wrote that the country “should begin with a 15-week national limit.”

When Scott announced his run in late May, he was asked about the issue and took a more equivocal approach. In his first few days of campaigning, Politico reported that Scott “pivoted, deflected and avoided” specifics around his stance on federal abortion bans. He dodged questions from local and national media outlets on April 12 when asked whether he would support a federal abortion ban, according to Politico.

The next day, he said he would “definitely” support signing a 20-week federal ban, a measure he supported in the Senate, but then again deflected questions on the federal ban later at a diner in Manchester and expressed concern about the notion by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that access to abortions could increase the African American workforce, Politico reported.

Scott continued to use unspecific responses when pressed in late April and May. He was asked on NewsMax if he would support Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban and said yes, but he also said he would also “sign the most conservative pro-life legislation you can bring to my desk.”

Scott said South Carolina’s recently passed six-week ban was “good news,” but then when asked by Axios reporter Sophia Cai in an interview on May 31 whether he would support a national six-week ban, he skirted the question and redirected it toward Cai on whether she agreed with someone getting an abortion at 40 weeks. He then reaffirmed his stance on a 15-week limit.

While Scott has spoken relatively consistently in support of a 15-week ban, he has been unspecific about whether he would pursue stricter limits federally.

“I will never pretend to know what a woman goes through when making this difficult decision, but I have provided a listening ear when dear friends of mine have experienced this life-changing choice themselves,” Scott wrote in his June 23 op-ed. “In one friend, I saw the sadness and regret that followed in abortion’s wake. In another, I saw the peace and joy that came with choosing life. Watching both sides of that choice play out firsthand opened my eyes even wider.”

He continued the piece by expressing his views as a Christian and conservative, saying the country needs to “change hearts and minds and rebuild an American culture of life that applies before, during, and after birth.”

Asked by The State about Scott’s apparent equivocation on abortion specifics, the Scott campaign pointed to previous comments about how he would sign the most pro-life legislation that would reach his desk if elected.

Abortion access has proved to be a touchy subject for a number of Republican presidential candidates, including former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both of whom have yet to announce whether they support a federal ban.

DeSantis, however, signed a six-week ban into law in Florida and has spoken more about abortion in recent months than Trump. DeSantis said this week during a campaign stop in South Carolina that states like South Carolina and Georgia have “done well,” but he sidestepped whether he supported a national ban on abortion.

Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has not been clear either. She has said a federal abortion ban is not “realistic,” on CBS Mornings, but she also didn’t specify whether she supported it. She has affirmed she is “unapologetically pro-life” and has called for the elimination of late-term abortions.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has stood by his support of a 15-week federal ban.