I held my breath as Raddatz framed the abortion issue in the context of faith, clearly trying to lay the worst possible ground for Paul Ryan. But he didn’t take the bait. He pivoted very quickly, saying that he is pro-life because of “reason and science,” and then told the story of seeing his daughter’s ultrasound at seven weeks to underscore the point. Really solid answer. He then cleverly went on offense, bringing in the Obama administration’s attacks on freedom of conscience through the HHS mandate.
The vice president responded by brazenly claiming that the mandate wouldn’t affect religious organizations. But as Wesley Smith notes below, that’s simply not true.
Another excellent part of Ryan’s answer was his inclusion of federalism in his answer: While Biden tried scare-mongering by claiming that Roe will be overturned if Romney gets two Supreme Court nominations, Ryan pointed out that the ultimate objective is to take the issue away from unelected judges and allow the people to decide.