Vice President Debate: Abortion, Gun Violence, Obamacare Reemerge

Abortion, gun violence and Obamacare took center stage Tuesday night as vice presidential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Sen. J.D. Vance (D-Ohio) took the stage in New York for their only debate of the campaign.

“I grew up in a working-class family in an area where I knew a lot of young women who had unplanned pregnancies and chose to terminate them because they felt they had no other choice,” Vance said during the debate , hosted by CBS.

He mentioned one friend growing up who told him “a few years ago that she felt that if it weren’t for the abortion, it would destroy her life because she was in an abusive relationship. And I think what I take away from her statement is that as a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the defenseless, my party needs to do a much better job of regaining the trust of the American people on this issue, in who honestly just don’t trust us.

“I want us as the Republican Party to be pro-family in the truest sense of the word,” Vance added. “I want us to support infertility treatment. I want us to make it easier for mothers to have children… I think we can do a lot in public policy to give women more opportunities. “

Overturn Roe v. Wade

Walz pointed out that Vance’s colleague, former President Donald Trump, bragged about nominating Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wadethe 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

“And then he tells us that sending (abortion decisions) to the states is a ‘beautiful thing,'” Walz said. “Amanda Zurawski would disagree with you that this is a beautiful thing.”

Żurawski, a Texas bride, was 18 weeks pregnant when she suffered complications but could not have an abortion because it would expose doctors performing the procedure to legal risk due to the state’s strict abortion ban, Walz said. “She went home, got sepsis, almost died, and now she may have difficulty having children. Or in Kentucky, a 12-year-old child was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. These are terrible (cases).”

“When (the moderator) asked about it, Sen. Vance said two wrongs don’t make a right,” Walz said. “There is no such law. (They say) it’s up to the states to decide what’s good for Texas may not be good for Washington. That’s not how it works.”

Vance and Walz also discussed the Amber Thurman case. “Amber Thurman happened to be in Georgia, which is a restrictive state” when it comes to abortion, Walz said. “Because of this, she had to travel a long distance to North Carolina for care. Amber Thurman died on that trip back and forth… How can we as a nation say that your life and your rights – as basic as the right to control your own body – are determined by your geographical location? There is a real chance that if Amber Thurman lived in Minnesota (where abortion is legal), she would be alive today.”

Minnesota law dispute

Vance agreed that “Amber Thurman should still be alive, and there are a lot of people who should still be alive.” Vance then brought up the Minnesota bill that Walz signed. “A physician administering an abortion, if the baby survives, has no obligation to provide life-saving care to a baby who survives a failed late-term abortion,” Vance said.

“That’s not true,” Walz interjected; however, he provided no further explanation as to what the law constituted. In fact, the bill signed by Walz in May 2023 updated the state’s law regarding “born-alive infants.” Previously according to ABC7 in Chicago, Minnesota states that “all reasonable measures consistent with good medical practice, including the preparation of appropriate medical records, should be taken by responsible medical personnel to protect the life and health of the infant born alive.” The law was updated to instead state that medical personnel must “care for an infant who is born alive.” The update also retained a provision that stated: “An infant born alive will be fully recognized as a human person and will be granted immediate legal protection.”

Moderator Norah O’Donnell asked Vance why he changed his mind on supporting a national abortion ban after initially stating he supported a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. “I have never supported a national ban,” Vance replied. “When I ran for Senate in 2022, I talked about setting some minimum national standards.” However, in a 2022 podcast, Vance actually said, “I would certainly like to see abortion illegal across the country.”

Committee on Gun Violence

The topic of gun violence produced some agreement between both candidates, with Vance stating that “I think Governor Walz and I probably agree that we have to do a better job on this issue.” He also said he trusts local law enforcement to decide how to curb the problem. When it comes to gun crimes, “the vast majority are committed with illegally obtained firearms,” ​​Vance said. “Thanks to (Vice President) Harris’s open border, we have seen a massive influx of illegal weapons run by Mexican drug cartels.”

“What are we doing about schools? I say this because I don’t like the answer… Unfortunately, I believe we need to increase security in our schools; we need to make the doors lock better… and increase the number of staff employed in schools,” Vance said.

On the other hand, Walz emphasized the use of enhanced background checks and “red flag” laws that take away guns from people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. “I have a 17-year-old who witnessed a shooting at a community center while playing volleyball,” Walz said. “Listen, I’m a hunter. I own a firearm, and so does the vice president. We understand that there is a Second Amendment, but our first responsibility is to our children. In Minnesota, we have passed stronger red flag laws, improved background checks, and we can start collecting data. But here’s the problem: We have people who won’t even allow research into gun violence.”

Walz appeared to be referring to the Dickey Amendment, a law passed in 1997 that prevented the CDC from advocating for gun control. The practical effect of this law, however, was that the CDC completely stopped conducting research on gun violence. Finally, in 2020, Congress began appropriating funding for gun violence research again.

As for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), “I think you can argue that (former President Trump) saved Obamacare, which was doing disastrously until Donald Trump came along,” Vance said. “When Obamacare sagged under the weight of its own regulatory burdens and health care costs, Donald Trump did not destroy the program. Instead, he worked on a bipartisan basis to ensure Americans had access to affordable care.”

Walz disagreed. “Donald Trump… ran (in 2016, assuming that) the first thing he would do on day one was repeal Obamacare,” he said. “On day one, he tried to sign an executive order repealing the ACA. He signed on to a lawsuit to appeal the ACA, but lost in the Supreme Court and would have repealed the ACA were it not for the courage of (late Arizona Republican senator John McCain) who voted against repealing the law.