Trump responds to claims he wants to monitor women’s pregnancies and sue them

Former President Donald Trump has responded to claims that he wanted to monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute them for illegal abortions.

“I never said that ‘some states might choose to monitor women’s pregnancies in order to potentially prosecute them for violating any abortion ban.’ This was made up by the Democrats and the fake media,” Trump said on Truth Social Sunday.

Trump, however, did not indicate that he would prevent states from taking action against pregnant women.

The statement comes as the former president attempts to walk a fine line on the issue of abortion — with a stance that neither turns off moderate women nor angers his anti-abortion conservative base.

This assertion stems from an interview Trump gave to Time Magazine last week, during which he was asked whether states “should monitor women’s pregnancies.”

“I think they could do it. Again, you will have to talk to the different states. Listen, Roe v. Wade was aiming to bring him back to the United States,” Trump said in that interview.

He was quickly criticized by senior Democrats and several media outlets who interpreted his remarks to mean he would not stop states from inspecting women’s pregnancies.

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Jacksonville, Florida, and highlighted the 45th president’s comments.

“Just this week, in an interview, (Trump) said that states have the right to monitor pregnant women to enforce these bans and that states have the right to punish pregnant women for seeking abortion care ” she said.

Her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, is expected to convene a panel Tuesday to discuss abortion during a visit to Atlanta.

Trump is trying to navigate the thorny politics of abortion, grappling with a conservative base that wants to dramatically restrict the procedure to protect unborn children and public opposition to a total ban.

Last month, the former president revealed that he would not support a federal ban on abortion and would instead defer to the states.

Trump reiterated this on Sunday.

“After 50 years, abortion now belongs to the United States, where everyone, Republicans and Democrats, as well as all the jurists and experts, wanted it to be that way,” he added.

“This is all working, it will never fall to the federal government, and our country will soon begin to unite on this long-controversial issue.”

“At the same time, no one wants to see abortion at the 7th, 8th or 9th month or execution after birth, which some states have allowed, as the former Democratic governor of Virginia said.”

Notably, last month, despite his desire to relegate abortion to the states, Trump simultaneously rebuked Arizona’s near-total abortion ban, which the state legislature recently moved to overturn.

Democrats view abortion as an Achilles heel for Trump and Republicans ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), for example, suggested that abortion would be a major rallying cry for Democrats in the future.

“If Roe v. Wade can fall, anything can fall. Social security may fall. Health insurance may fall. Voting rights may fall. And God help us all, but democracy itself may fall,” Jeffries » said “60 Minutes” on CBS.

Trump had appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who ultimately chose to overturn precedents first established in Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a national right to access to abortion.

But Trump’s campaign is conveying optimism about the former president’s chances of returning to the White House.

On Saturday, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced that April’s fundraising total would exceed $76 million, up from $65.6 million in March.

The amount is still lower than the $90 million figure announced by President Biden’s operation in March.

“Not only is President Donald J. Trump winning in every battleground state, but we are raising the resources needed to achieve a victory in November,” said Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, senior advisers to the Trump campaign.

“With half of the funds raised coming from small donors, it’s clear that our base is energized. The Republican Party is united and voters across the country are ready to fire Joe Biden and elect Donald J. Trump as President.