Former President Donald Trump said Monday that abortion laws should be left to states, many of which have enacted new restrictions since he appointed Supreme Court justices who voted to roll back federal protections for the procedure.
In a four-and-a-half-minute video posted to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump falsely claimed that “we have abortions where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint” in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision. Most Americans have consistently said in polls that they favor Roe vs. Wade that the court dismantled.
“My view is that now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine it by voting or legislation, or maybe both, and whatever they decide should be the law of the land,” Trump said. .
In doing so, he declined to take a position on the national ban that has been promoted by some of his staunchest allies, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former White House aide Kellyanne Conway. In the past, Trump had hinted that he might adopt a national ban, referring to a 15- or 16-week threshold as a consensus position.
Trump did not say what he would do if he won the presidency and Congress sent him a national ban.
Over the past quarter century, and even since becoming a presidential candidate in 2015, Trump has gone back and forth on how to handle the abortion issue. Since the 2024 campaign began, he has offered few details about what policies he would support postwar.Roe v. Wade It was in case he won the White House.
Trump, a Florida resident, has not said his position on Florida's new six-week ban. When he mocks support for a nationwide ban, his words often seem to contradict his formal campaign statements.
Trump has said he supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother, a position he reiterated in Monday's video. But the president does not determine how states make their laws.
Trump has frequently gloated about being responsible for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which dismantled reproductive rights protections. But he also blamed the issue for the GOP's losses in 2022 and has said Republicans must learn to talk about abortion in a way that doesn't turn off potential voters.
Last year, after abortion protections were repealed, he made a vague proposal in an interview with NBC News' “Meet the Press” that he would be a voice of consensus on abortion, but did not specify how.
“Let me tell you what I would do,” he said. “I will meet with all the groups and we will have something that is acceptable.”
At the time, he said he would not sign a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks.
However, in recent months, Trump moved in the direction of a federal abortion ban, even as some of his statements were at odds with his campaign. After reports emerged that he had told allies that he was considering a federal ban on abortion at 16 weeks, his campaign dismissed it as “fake news.” Shortly after, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told NBC News that “Trump is approaching 16 weeks.” And then Trump himself in an interview suggested that he would support a 15-week ban.
The prospect of the top Republican ticket backing a federal abortion ban at a time when Democrats are elevating the issue as a central point of attack could put Republicans in swing states in a tough spot, after some have tried to moderate their positions. However, the Trump campaign's statements appear to lean toward states' rights rather than a federal ban.
“President Trump supports the preservation of life, but he has also made clear that he supports states' rights because he supports the right of voters to make decisions for themselves,” Brian Hughes, a senior Trump adviser, said in a release. He added: “President Trump believes voters should have the final say.”
After offering little clarity this week at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump said his campaign would “make a statement next week on abortion” after he was asked if he supported a six-week abortion ban. that the Florida Supreme Court just confirmed it.
President Joe Biden's campaign has seized on Trump's various comments on abortion, particularly his past boasts about having helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Donald Trump doesn't trust women,” Biden says in new ad. “Yeah.”
