Welker asked again, would Johnson hold a vote on a national abortion ban?
“We’re nowhere in a universe where that would be possible right now,” Johnson said. “I have to build a cultural consensus,” he continued, “there’s a lot of work to do.”
Johnson has, infamously, been doing this work for years.
As Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin has chronicled, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, Johnson called it “a great, joyous occasion.” His goal for his home state of Louisiana, as he’s explainedis to “get the number of abortions to ZERO!!” As a lawyer, he worked to shut down abortion clinics, as a legislator, he cosponsored the “Life at Conception” bill, which would force pregnancy from the point of fertilization and included no exceptions for IVF, and, as a religious leader, he blamed school shootings, in part, on pregnant people having access to abortion care.
On Sunday, Johnson encouraged anti-abortion organizations to keep working toward a cultural consensus on the issue before adding, “We need to take care of these ladies that are in difficult situations with their pregnancies. That’s what the states are doing, very effectively. Crisis pregnancy centers and others around the country, care pregnancy centers—there’s a lot of great work being done.”
Crisis pregnancy centers are facilities that act as legitimate reproductive health care clinics for pregnant people but, in practice, aim to dissuade people from accessing certain types of care, like abortion and contraceptive options. After Dobbs“Tennessee boosted state support for crisis pregnancy centers from $3 million to $20 million; Florida raised it from $4.5 million to $25 million, and Texas went from giving the groups $5 million every two years to giving a whopping $100 million for 2022 and 2023,” according to Jessica Valenti’s new book Abortion.
Watkins concluded the interview by asking if Johnson, who is the second in line for the presidency, would accept and certify the results of the 2024 election—a task that Trump’s own running mate, JD Vancehas continuously refused to commit to.
“Of course, I’m going to follow the Constitution, I’m going to follow the law, that’s my job, my duty. I took an oath to do that, and I will fulfill my oath,” Johnson said.
“Regardless of who wins?” Welker clarified.
“Of course, yes,” Johnson replied. “If,” he continued, “it’s free and fair.”
