Pence tells Republicans to take hard line on abortion despite electoral liability

Former vice-president calls for federal 15-week minimum' ban in contrast to Trump who suggested issue cost party votes

Speaking one year since the US supreme court removed the federal right to abortion, Mike Pence said candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination should stand firm on the electorally unpopular issue and take a hard line on bringing in national limits.

For me, for our campaign, we're going to stand where we've always stood, and that is without apology for the right to life," the former congressman, Indiana governor and vice-president to Donald Trump told Politico.