Mike Pence cheers potential overturning of Roe v. Wade on eve of Supreme Court arguments

On the eve Supreme Court oral arguments in a case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday cheered the potential for its abolishment.

"As we stand here today, we may well be on the verge of an era when the Supreme Court sends Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs," Pence said at a National Press Club gathering hosted by anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List.

On Wednesday, the conservative majority Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health over a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Though initially blocked and put on hold by lower courts, Mississippi is asking the Supreme Court to abolish the 24-to-26 week standard of fetal viability and give individual states the power to set their own abortion mandates.

If successful, Mississippi would be responsible for dismantling one of the most protective abortion rights rulings in decades, a major win for conservatives nationwide as the GOP gains a competitive edge in the impending midterm election season.

Pence recently launched a podcast, "American Freedom," and is in the middle of a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. His first book, an autobiography, is tentatively scheduled to publish in 2023.

On Tuesday, Pence seemed undoubtedly confident his party's gamble on abortion would pay off soon.

"Today there is hope on the horizon that the days of Roe v. Wade are coming to an end," Pence said.

During his half-hour remarks, Pence offered full-throated condemnation of Planned Parenthood and Democrats' push to expand access to abortion, a refrain often repeated by the former vice president during his four years in office. He compared the country's current protections to those of extremist regimes and claimed that many Americans were fed up with the Biden administration's push to codify Roe.

"When it comes to abortion policy, America has more in common with China and North Korea than it does with Western nations," who later added that "by upholding Mississippi's law, the Supreme Court can move America away from the radical fringe and squarely back into the mainstream of Western thought."

Yet consistent polling of the American doesn't support Pence's claims. Only about a third of Americans want Roe v. Wade overturned, with a majority wishing the law to stay as is.

Quickly following his remarks, the Democratic National Committee blasted Pence as "deeply and cruelly disturbing."

"Watching the same Republican Party leaders like Mike Pence talk about being 'pro-life' after they repeatedly lied about a pandemic that's cost so many Americans their lives would be laughable if it wasn't so deeply and cruelly disturbing," DNC spokesperson Adonna Biel wrote in an emailed statement. "To this day, Republican lawmakers have displayed a remarkable commitment to attacking health care and fighting efforts to cut costs and make it easier to raise a family. Voters across the country will hold them accountable for their extreme views."

The White House followed in turn, with press secretary Jen Psaki calling the Mississippi law a "grave threat to women's fundamental rights" during a press conference with reporters Tuesday.

Still, Pence sees hope that the Supreme Court's right-leaning bench will rule in his, and his party's, favor.

"When the supreme court overturns Roe v. Wade, and I believe with all my heart that day will come, either now or in the near future, it will not come as a surprise to anyone. It will simply be the culmination of a 50-year journey whose course and destination has been driven by the will of the American people," Pence said.

Pence said that he expects "millions of Americans" will increasingly move to support anti-abortion candidates who run in congressional and statehouse races in the midterms if SCOTUS comes down in Mississippi's favor and unleashes "a new era and a season of renewal."

"It will impact the short term and the long term, not just for politics but for life."