FILE - Republican Senate candidate JD Vance holds a piece of paper with the name of former President Donald Trump written on it, as he speaks May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster, File)

J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee in Ohio’s Senate race, has switched his position on federal abortion bans, now saying regulations should be left up to the states post-Dobbs. 

The Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, “Hillbilly Elegy” author and one-time investment banker said on a Meet the Press segment earlier this month that while he believes the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade was a good thing, the federal government should not have a role in banning abortion “right now.”

“When we’re figuring this new legal regime out, I think it makes sense to let the states decide this stuff,” Vance said. “And right now, states are moving in a pro-life direction, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Vance has seemed to shift positions from earlier this year, when he told the political podcast “What’s Left?” that he “would like abortion to be illegal nationally.” When the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade leaked back in May, Vance tweeted that it would be “an amazing victory for the pro life movement.” He has long been against abortion in nearly all instances, with no exceptions for rape of incest, gaining the endorsement of Ohio’s oldest and largest anti-abortion group, Ohio Right to Life.

Vance is not the first Republican candidate from the Heartland to struggle to find his footing in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Governors from Mike DeWine of Ohio to Kristi Noem of South Dakota have fumbled responses to questions about abortion policy in their states.

Vance also drew controversy when he compared abortion to slavery last fall, saying both have “this morally distorting effect on the entire society.”

Vance’s team did not respond to a request for comment.