Pence, strongly opposed to abortion, says he 'fully' supports 'full access' to contraception

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Former Vice President Mike Pence joins 'Hannity' to discuss the differences between conservatism and populism. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence, long a strong opponent of abortion, told Fox News Digital that he "fully" supports contraception and full "access" to it.

During an exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News Digital, Pence explained that while he would be a firm pro-life president, he "certainly" supports contraception.

"I full support contraception — I always have," he said. "I certainly, fully do." 

He stressed that abortion is not a state issue but a "moral" one and emphasized his stance as a "champion" for life.

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During the first GOP presidential primary debate last month, Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley engaged in a back-and-forth over the issue of abortion. Both maintained that they are firmly pro-life candidates, while Haley called for "consensus," and an agreement that contraception should be available. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to the press after addressing Republicans during a campaign event at the Pottawattamie County GOP Executive Council Social Hour in Neola, Iowa, on July 6, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The former vice president did not discuss contraception at the time but weighed in by saying: "Consensus is the opposite of leadership." 

"I fully support access to contraception," Pence told Fox News Digital on Thursday, but he said that pro-life Americans are "longing for leadership at the highest level and leaders that will lead on principle and with compassion." 

"I think we ought to have a national conversation about adoption reform in this country — we are going to have a national conversation about supporting women in crisis pregnancies," he said. "We ought to ensure that we can end taxpayer-funding of abortion — that President Joe Biden and the Democrats have advanced at home and abroad."

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Pence said that in "most European countries," abortion is "banned or severely restricted" around 15 weeks of pregnancy, when "a baby can experience pain."

Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence walks alongside Karen Pence in the Urbandale 4th of July Celebration in Iowa on July 4, 2023. (Mike Pence 2024 Presidential Campaign)

Pence said that he would "always champion greater protections for life than that," but said that there should be a "15-week minimum standard."

"I think differently from other candidates in the field," Pence said, adding that the Trump-Pence administration was "the most pro-life administration in American history."

"Now, the former president and virtually everybody else who joined me on that debate stage is trying to marginalize the right to life and say it is a states-only issue, when I believe it is not a state issue, it is a moral issue," he said. "And that the American people have every right to advance protections for the unborn in statehouses, but also, I think they want to see a president who will advance the cause of the right to life in our nation's capitol as well."

Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence walks alongside Karen Pence in the Urbandale 4th of July Celebration in Iowa on July 4, 2023. (Mike Pence 2024 Presidential Campaign)

Pence, taking a swipe at former President Donald Trump, told Fox News Digital that he has "not only relegated the question to the states, along with others in the field, but he has also blamed election defeats in 2022 on overturning Roe v. Wade." 

Abortion rights demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to protest the overturning of Roe V. Wade. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Last year, the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark case Roe v. Wade, bringing the issue of abortion back to legislatures for the first time in nearly 50 years.

"Why we simply want to say that the unborn children in Illinois and in New York, and in California ought not to have a minimum of protection is beyond me," Pence said.