'Sociopathic': Vance insists Americans who choose to not have children are 'very deranged'
The New York Times recently published its full interview with Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), in which the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee continued his attacks on Americans who choose to not have children.
After former President Donald Trump officially selected Vance as his running mate, the Ohio senator's disparaging remarks about women came to light, particularly comments he made about childless women. When the Times asked Vance whether he regretted making those statements — like suggesting "childless cat ladies" were supposedly forcing a progressive agenda on Americans — the Hillbilly Elegy author refused to take back some of his most pointed jabs at adults who are voluntarily childless.
"I do think that there’s this pathological frustration with children that just is a new thing in American society. I think it’s very dark," Vance said. "I think you see it sometimes in the political conversation, people saying, well, maybe we shouldn’t have kids because of climate change."
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The Ohio Republican attempted to clarify that when talking about childless Americans, he wasn't referring to women who weren't able to bear children for medical reasons. Rather, he insisted that it was "very deranged" for Americans to choose to not want to bring children into the world due to the growing threat of climate change.
"You know, when I’ve used this word sociopathic? Like, that, I think, is a very deranged idea: the idea that you shouldn’t have a family because of concerns over climate change," he continued. "Doesn’t mean you can’t worry about climate change, but in the focus on childless cat ladies, we missed the substance of what I said."
Vance's characterization of Americans not wanting to have children due to climate change is an increasingly common occurrence. In a 2023 Washington Post op-ed, University of Chicago professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington cited a 2021 survey of 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25, in which 60% said they were either "very" or "extremely" concerned about the climate. Roughly 40% said they were "hesitant to have children" due to the rapidly warming climate.
One of those women is journalist Anna Grace Lee, who is a reporting fellow for the Times' Styles desk. In 2023, she wrote an essay for CNN explaining that while she personally wanted children, she also didn't want her future children to suffer in a world made unlivable due to climate change.
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"If things were different, I’d be honored to become a parent — indeed, I think there is no greater privilege or responsibility. But each day, the current state of the world dissuades me more and more from having children," she wrote. " Like many folks in Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), my main concern is climate change. And, as climate catastrophes are already well in motion (coupled with a host of related socioeconomic and equality issues), I feel as if I would be doing an increasingly irreparable injustice to any children I would bring into this world with my inability to offer them a future."
Climate change has emerged as one of the most difficult-to-ignore issues of the 2024 election, with Hurricanes Helene and Milton ripping through the Southeastern United States. Milton, which hit the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm this week, is the fourth major hurricane to make landfall in the Sunshine State just in the last two years (Ian in 2022, Idalia in 2023 and Helene in 2024).
Approximately 150 people have been killed by Helene and Milton, and the two storms have caused approximately $100 billion in damages across the affected states. While both storms made landfall in Florida, excessive rains from Helene devastated the western half of North Carolina, killing more than 100 people, disabling roads and knocking out power across multiple counties.
Click here to read Vance's interview with the Times in its entirety (subscription required).
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