South Carolina Republican presidential primary,<\/a>\u00a0in which the former president is the overwhelming favorite, despite Haley having been twice elected South Carolina governor. The Alabama decision almost certainly will not change GOP primary dynamics, but the conversation carries important implications for the general election as Republicans try to avoid being tagged by Democrats as too extreme on reproductive policy.<\/p>\nHaley said Thursday, after the Alabama ruling, that she views human embryos, which are the earliest form of development after fertilization, as \u201cbabies.\u201d But she also said she disagrees with the Alabama court and said the state\u2019s legislators should \u201clook at the law.\u201d Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Republican legislative leaders had already started that conversation before the GOP\u2019s presidential candidates weighed in.<\/p>\n
In his social media post, Trump steered clear of declaring embryos to be distinct humans worthy of legal protection. His statement focused instead on the practical considerations for would-be parents trying to start families. IVF is typically a months-long process for couples or women who have struggled to conceive and maintain a viable pregnancy naturally. The treatments can cost patients tens of thousands of dollars, with no assurances that an implanted embryo will become a viable pregnancy and end with a healthy child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pro-family,\u201d Donald Trump Jr. said Friday in Charleston, campaigning on his father\u2019s behalf not long before the elder Trump issued his statement. \u201cFamilies should do what they want to be able to make families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump Jr. said he had not discussed the specifics with his father since the Alabama ruling but said he and his father both know families who have used IVF as a path to having children.<\/p>\n
The former president and Haley have found themselves ensnared by abortion and reproductive politics already in the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n
Trump has taken credit for the ruling overturning Roe but also warned Republicans about going too far adopting statutory restrictions on abortions, lest the party lose support from moderate voters. Polling has shown for years that most Americans, even many who think of themselves as \u201cpro-life,\u201d want to preserve some access to the procedure.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, anti-abortion advocates have suggested courts should go further to rule embryos are children, though that would sharply ramp up restrictions on treatments like IVF. Specifically, the Alabama ruling raises questions about what would become of frozen embryos that are not used in implantation procedures, what financial responsibility patients might have to maintain them if they could not legally be destroyed and what civil and even criminal liabilities medical providers could face throughout the process.<\/p>\n
As she campaigned Friday in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Haley sidestepped the IVF conversation. She stuck to her argument that Trump, who has been indicted four times, is too big a risk for Republicans to nominate again. She repeated her pledge to stay in the primary fight at least until the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries, and she again hammered Trump for cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump is siding with a dictator who kills his political opponents,\u201d she said, referring to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died recently in an Arctic prison camp after being jailed by Putin\u2019s Kremlin government.<\/p>\n
Haley\u2019s attacks, however, have yet to persuade enough Republican primary voters, with Trump running up wide margins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Even in South Carolina, where Haley was once the state\u2019s most powerful, popular Republican figure, she has had trouble winning over conservatives.<\/p>\n
Jim Schurtz, a 72-year-old retired engineer who came to hear Trump on Friday in Rock Hill went so far as to say Haley had been \u201ca terrible governor.\u201d Sporting a red Trump hat with a giant \u201cT\u201d and \u201c2024\u201d across the top, Schurtz said he doesn\u2019t think Haley would be elected governor if she had to run again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll she does is put Trump down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Both Trumps took shots at Haley, saying she\u2019s staying in the race to ensure financial windfalls after the campaign. Trump Jr. suggested Haley is running for a post on \u201cthe Raytheon board,\u201d referring to the defense conglomerate now known as RTX Corp. The former president mused at his rally about a different landing spot: \u201cMaybe she wants to get a contract at CNN.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if Haley can narrow Trump\u2019s expected margins, she could watch him extend his delegate lead nationally. Of South Carolina\u2019s 50 delegates, 29 are awarded to the statewide winner. The other 21 are distributed according to the outcome within each of the state\u2019s seven congressional districts, with each worth 3 delegates for the top vote-getter. In 2016, Trump used that system to sweep South Carolina\u2019s delegates.<\/p>\n
In Rock Hill, Trump spent more time on a string of attacks directed at President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney than he did talking about Haley. But, Trump said mockingly, \u201cI have an obligation\u201d to mention Haley before polls open Saturday.<\/p>\n
So, he offered a prediction: \u201cShe\u2019s going to have a very bad day tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Pollard reported from Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Kinnard reported from Charleston, South Carolina, and Barrow reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report from Columbia, South Carolina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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