A few weeks ago, segments from Nikki Haley’s performance at the Republican debate circulated over TikTok. 

The former governor of South Carolina, who is currently vying for the Republican presidential nomination, stated quotable phrases like, “When you want something said, ask a man. When you want something done, ask a woman,” as well as specifying that women would not be given jail time or the death penalty for having abortions. 

Her remarks gained her positive attention and undoubtedly increased her fanbase. Many were impressed. TikTok users were intrigued, and those multiple moments from the debate were stitched over and over again. I’ll admit, it was refreshing to see. 

For the time being, it appears Nikki Haley is a fan favorite in the Republican race. Perhaps favorite is not the right word, because what Goldwater-Republican is going to cast their vote for a woman? Especially a female politician having a slightly different opinion on a topic that has solidified itself as a Republican no-brainer.

While her quip remarks are all well and good, her anti-abortion stance has been made clear time and time again, and her suggesting that women should not suffer dire consequences because they’ve had an abortion definitely does not solidify her as a feminist icon. 

She is still to her core a Republican, and she takes stances which have become synonymous with the Republican agenda.  

Her remarks are less than the bare minimum and only affirm herself as a continued proponent of the pro-life movement. She does not hold women’s best interests at heart. She has only disguised them to differ herself from her fellow staunchly-stanced stale male candidates. 

She continues to utilize the popular pro-life term, ‘late-term abortion,’ which is not a medically accurate term and equates a 15-20 week pregnancy to a pregnancy ready for delivery. She believes medical doctors should not have to perform abortions if they do not want to. In that case, they are not doctors. She speaks highly of adoption and encouraging adoption, but where are her ideas for healing the adoption system and finding homes for children already in the adoption system? She agrees that contraception should be readily available, but what about the morning-after pill?   

These stances do not make her lenient on abortion. It only gives her the appearance of being so. Given the chance, she would absolutely write a national abortion ban into federal law. 

She is a woman who has profited from the family planning options available to her and will work her hardest to ensure that those resources are cut off. 

She is a candidate who hears the abortion arguments and calls for consensus and compromises that aren’t really compromises and isn’t really consensus, just the same repetition of the pro-life movement’s values.   

Next time you feel like posting in support of Nikki Haley, just understand that if you want abortion to stay legal, she does not support you.