Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Tuesday that he will not sign a law enacting a six-week abortion ban.
Christie made his stance on the issue known during an appearance on “CNN This Morning,” responding to a question from co-host Phil Mattingly about fellow presidential contender Nikki Haley’s stance on the issue.
“I would not sign a six-week national abortion ban,” Christie told Mattingly. “And the reason I wouldn’t is because we fought for 50 years and we had this conversation a little bit before.”
“We fought for 50 years to put this in the hands of the people, to say the federal government, in that case, the Supreme Court had taken it out of the hands of the people and given them no voice,” Christie added.
“Now people have a voice. So we’ve seen it. You mentioned Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas. And one thing I know for sure is there is no consensus around a six-week abortion ban nationally.”
Speaking at a campaign event in Iowa earlier this month, Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said that she would have signed a six-week abortion ban in her state if she was governor and it reached her desk.
“Yes, whatever the people decide,” Haley said, per The New York Times. “This was put in the states — that’s where it should be. Everyone can give their voice to it.”
Haley has largely avoided commenting on whether she would sign a national ban as president, arguing its a moot point since such legislation would be blocked by Democrats in Congress.
Mattingly asked Christie whether Haley’s comments supporting a state-level ban made her “unelectable?”
“I think it makes it much more difficult in a general election for her, because you could see when Governor [Ron DeSantis] signed that bill in Florida, it certainly affected his popularity with the broader electorate,” Christie said.
“And my view is this: I want the people, not the politicians, to make this decision. So let people vote in the states. We see a great exercise in democracy going on all across this country.”
Mattingly did not ask Christie if he would have signed a state-level bill as governor. The Hill has reached out to his campaign with that question.
It’s been more than a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision established nearly 50 years ago that gave the constitutional right to abortion to women. As a result of the ruling, multiple GOP-led states have either implemented or enacted their own abortion bans and restrictions.
Abortion has become a key issue in elections in the time since, including earlier this month in Ohio, where voters approved an amendment to the state constitution ensuring access to abortion.
Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, also knocked Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel last week for her suggestion that abortion should be a federal issue.
“I want the American people to decide. That’s the right way to make this judgment. And with all due respect to Ronna, she’s not running for president, and she’s never governed,” Christie said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
“So she doesn’t know how hard these choices are and how you have to interact with people.”