Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday he would not sign a six-week federal abortion ban as president because he does not believe such legislation aligns with the views of the American public.
“One thing I know for sure is there is no consensus around a six-week abortion ban nationally,” the GOP presidential candidate said Tuesday on “CNN This Morning,” pointing to recent victories at the ballot box for supporters of abortion rights since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned last year.
Christie has said that he personally opposes abortion and that he would only sign a federal bill restricting the procedure if it represented a national consensus, something he acknowledges would be difficult in a divided Congress.
By weighing in specifically on a six-week ban, Christie sought to draw a contrast with some of his Republican rivals on an issue that the party has struggled with following the elimination of federal abortion protections with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
Christie told CNN he thinks primary rival Nikki Haley’s recent comments saying she would sign a six-week abortion ban in her home state of South Carolina if she were still governor could make her potential general election prospects “much more difficult.”
“You could see when [Gov. Ron] DeSantis signed that bill in Florida, it certainly affected his popularity with a broader electorate,” Christie said, referring to a measure the Florida governor signed earlier this year to ban most abortions in the state after six weeks. (That law is currently on hold as the state Supreme Court decides a challenge to an earlier 15-week ban on the procedure.)
Christie pointed out that Haley’s comments on the six-week ban came at an conservative Christian forum earlier this month in Iowa, where she was asked by evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats if she would…
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