Elizabeth Warren Ridicules JD Vance’s Abortion Ban Remarks

Elizabeth Warren said she does not believe JD Vance’s comments about him and Donald Trump not planning a nationwide ban on abortion.

The Republican candidate for Vice President committed to not imposing an abortion ban if he and Trump get into the White House during an interview with host Kristen Welker on NBC News‘ Meet The Press on Sunday morning.

But Warren has since said this does not quell the fears of those who are worried about access to abortion, a huge issue in this election, since many Republican-controlled states have brought in restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

The Massachusetts Senator told Welker: “American women are not stupid and we are not going to trust the futures of our daughters and granddaughters to two men who have openly bragged about blocking access to abortion for women all across this country.

“Right now, where we are, is if Donald Trump and JD Vance take the White House, they have current law—the Comstock Act—which, with the right person that they put into the Department of Justice and one of their extremist judges out in the world, they can actually ban all access to abortion all across this country.”

She went on: “And understand, when I say ban access to abortion, I don’t mean with exceptions for rape or incest or a 16-week ban, I mean ban it for every woman any time she needs it.

“Because once they take the medications off the market, once they take the surgical instruments off the market, they’re not there.

“And so, for any woman who’s in the middle of a miscarriage, who goes into an emergency room and discovers there’s no medication and no treatment for her, because abortion has been banned nationwide, they can thank Donald Trump and JD Vance.”

Welker cut in to add that both Trump and Vance have said they would not use the Comstock Act to try to ban abortions.

The 150-year-old legislation, which bans sending “lewd materials” such as pornography by mail, was referred to in comments by Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in a major abortion pill case in March.

Anti-abortion activists have since spoken about using the law to end the availability of medication abortion, used the majority of abortions in the U.S, with some arguing it should be interpreted to the fullest extent, restricting the delivery of medical instruments and supplies and ultimately ending surgical abortion too.

This includes Jonathan F. Mitchell, who was behind Texas’ restrictive abortion law coming into effect in 2021, before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

“We don’t need a federal ban when we have Comstock on the books,” he told The New York Times in February.

Just a few days ago, when Trump was asked about using the Comstock Act on CBS News, he said: “We will be discussing specifics of it, but, generally speaking, no I wouldn’t (enforce the Comstock Act).”

Political Correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns asked: “Should medication abortion be widely available?” Trump answered: “Well, it’s going to be available, it is now. And as I know it, the Supreme Court has said ‘keep it the way it is.’ I will enforce and agree with the Supreme Court but basically, they’ve said ‘keep it the way it is’.”

When Welker asked Warren if she buys these kinds of assurances, Warren answered: “Don’t buy it? Just read it! JD Vance actually sent a letter last year to the Department of Justice saying: ‘Enforce the Comstock Act.’

“And remember, he did that and then Donald Trump picked him to be his Vice President.

“Take a look at Project 2025, it lays out the road map for exactly how to do this and, frankly, when you’ve got a pawn in the Department of Justice and pawns in the judiciary, it isn’t even hard to accomplish.”

Here, she was referring to the fact that, in 2023, Ohio Senator Vance was one of dozens of members of Congress who signed a letter to the Department of Justice, asking it to use the Comstock Act to prosecute “the reckless distribution of abortion drugs by mail.”

Project 2025 is an initiative developed by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation which was designed in the hopes of being implemented if Trump wins reelection.

Trump has denied associations with the project, something Democrats have pushed back on, posting on Truth Social on July 5: “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Newsweek has contacted Trump and Vance’s team via email, outside of normal office hours, for a response to Warren’s comments.