‘God is not done with America’: Mike Pence talks abortion bans, Jan. 6 attack at Napa conference

Hundreds of attendees at the Napa Institute Summer Conference rose to their feet and vigorously applauded Thursday afternoon as former vice president and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence took to the stage to deliver the keynote address.

Much of Pence’s speech focused on conservative Catholic efforts to ban abortions — a major political focus of his. A point he touted was his role in securing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which effectively ended constitutional protection of abortions by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

“We not only appointed 300 conservatives to our federal courts at every level, but we appointed three justices, a majority on the Supreme Court, that sent Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs,” Pence said to the crowd inside the ballroom at The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa.

But he also said work to outlaw abortion isn’t over. During his roughly 30-minute address, Pence called for a federal ban on abortions prior to 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Tim Busch, founder and CEO of Pacific Hospitality Group, which owns The Meritage, said following the speech that the crowd wanted what Oklahoma has — a ban on abortion following conception.

But the crowd shouldn’t “let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” said Busch, who is also co-founder of the conference.

If a 15-week ban passes, Busch said, “We can start having a conversation with America that we are killing real people, and this isn’t just some fetus, this is a child.

“Because why else would the federal government put an end to abortion at 15 weeks? If 15 weeks, why not 14 weeks, if 14 weeks why not 13 weeks? So the conversation moves to our side.”

Should he become president, Pence told the crowd his administration would only consider pro-life candidates for cabinet positions — especially for leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“God is not done with America yet,” Pence told the crowd. “And the best days of this great nation are yet to come.”

Pence said he was grateful to attend the conference because people of conviction and faith are needed to continue that effort to outlaw abortions. The people at the conference, he continued, had such qualities.

The foundation of America is freedom, he said, and the foundation of freedom is faith.

“The truth is what the world needs most now, in these challenging times, is not one more brilliant investor or lawyer or even politician,” he said.

“What the world needs today is men and women of deep conviction and faith, who will boldly live out their faith in the public square. And that’s the men and women of the Napa Institute.”

The vast majority of American people, according to Pence’s estimation, are people who “cherish life, traditional values, marriage.”

He said those in attendance had the chance to go forth and speak out, and “watch people rally to your calls.”

“I believe the greatest threat we face is not the strength of those who oppose us, it’s the inadequacy of our religious training, it’s the danger of our own indifference, believing the lie that we can’t make a difference or we’re just one voice,” he said.

Pence also briefly spoke about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was inside the Senate chamber that day as an angry mob chanting “hang Mike Pence” approached.

Had said he had met with then-President Donald Trump the prior day when he told him he would obey the oath he took to his office — and formally confirm the victory of President Joe Biden.

He encouraged the crowd in Napa on Thursday to be inspired by those who had come before them when they “advance the cause of life, stand for religious liberty, stand without apology for our values in an ever-changing culture.”

“I’ve always believed that by God's grace, that next day we did our duty, upholding the constitution of the United States and the laws of this country in a peaceful transfer of power,” Pence said.

“But it was God’s grace, and the inspiration of those that had come before.”