House Speaker Mike Johnson says he won’t push federal abortion ban

House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he won’t try to pass a federal ban on abortion either before or after the 2024 election, even if Republicans keep their majority in the latter case.

Johnson (R-La.) affirmed his stance as a “lifelong pro-lifer” in a wide-ranging interview with Politico published Friday, but added that he rejected federal efforts to outlaw abortion and other demands from his right flank that triggered a failed vote to oust him earlier this week.

“[Former] President [Donald] Trump said this is in the states’ purview now,” Johnson, 52, told the outlet. “After the Dobbs decision, I think that’s where it is.”

“I’m a product of a teen pregnancy,” the speaker added. “And so I believe in the sanctity of human life. It’s also an important article of faith for me. But I have 434 colleagues here. All of us have our own, philosophical principles that we live by, but you have to have a political consensus.”