Washington- Former President Donald Trump on Monday refused to endorse a federal ban on abortion, saying the issue should be left to the states despite encouragement from anti-abortion groups who encouraged him to support a national restriction.
THE the former president sent mixed signals on the issue for months, flirting with support for a broader abortion ban amid conflicting pressure from Republicans and Democrats. While some in his party have made clear their support for federal restrictions, Trump has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the problems the issue has created for Republicans at the polls, while taking credit for the decision of the Supreme Court which struck down a constitutional right to abortion. .
President Biden and the Democrats, meanwhile, sought to make the right to abortion one of the determining issues of the election.
“My view is that now we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine it by vote or legislation, or maybe both, and whatever their decision, it will be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social after announcing last week that he would issue a statement.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to the will of the people,” Trump added. “You have to follow your heart or, in many cases, your religion or faith. Do what’s right for your family and do what’s right for yourself.”
Trump reiterated his support for abortion exceptions nationwide, but did not commit to enshrining them in law in his statement.
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“Like Ronald Reagan, I strongly support exceptions for rape, incest and maternal life. You must follow your heart on this issue,” he said.
But Trump continued to spread misinformation on the issue, accusing Democrats of being “the most radical on this issue,” alleging that they support “abortion up to the ninth month and beyond.” He repeatedly insisted that Democrats support “post-birth execution,” something he repeated Monday.
And like the The GOP seeks to navigate after the Alabama Supreme Court Decision on IVFTrump said he “strongly” supports “the availability of IVF for couples trying to have a precious baby.”
Last week, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent group that opposes abortion, released a statement praising Trump’s “legacy of pro-life leadership” while encouraging him to endorse a minimum 15-week ban on abortion nationwide.
But the group expressed disappointment with the former president’s stance on abortion, saying in a statement last year that his “states-only” stance was “unacceptable.” At the time, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the group would oppose any presidential candidate “who refuses to adopt a minimum of a 15-week national standard.” Dannenfelser said in a statement Monday that the group was “deeply disappointed by President Trump’s position.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized politicians in his party for their stance on the controversial issue, calling Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a “ abortion ban for six weeks“a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” in an interview with NBC News last year, and candidates were called who ran in the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 Republican primaries for not speaking “properly” about abortion.
“To win in 2024, Republicans must learn how to properly talk about abortion,” Trump said at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, in September. “At midterm, it really cost us a lot of money and unnecessarily.”
In March, Trump suggested he would support a national ban on abortion around 15 weeks in a New York radio interview with WABC. “The number of weeks now, people agree on 15. And I think in terms of that. And that will result in something very reasonable.”
The former president boasts overturning Roe v. Wade as a significant achievement of his first administration and thanked the Supreme Court justices in his statement on abortion Monday.
The Supreme Court officially struck down the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, allowing states to immediately restrict access to abortion.
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