Donald Trump has had a hard time finding a consistent message on abortion and reproductive rights issues.
The former president has consistently shifted positions or offered vague, contradictory and at times nonsensical answers to questions on an issue that has become a major vulnerability for Republicans in this year’s election. Trump is trying to win over voters, especially women, skeptical of his views, especially after nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped repealed the nationwide right to abortion two years ago.
The latest example came this week when the Republican presidential candidate said some abortion laws were “too strict” and would be “overhauled.”
“It’s going to be redone,” he said during a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday. “They’re going to do it, you’re going to do it, in the end you’re going to get the people’s vote.” They are too hard, too hard. And they’re going to be redone because there’s already a movement in those states.”
Trump did not specify whether he meant to take any action if he wins in November, and did not say which states or laws he was talking about. He did not specify what he meant by “reworked.”
He also appeared to contradict his own position when he referred to strict abortion bans passed in Republican-controlled states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump recently said he would vote against a constitutional amendment in the Florida election that would have repealed the state’s six-week abortion ban. This decision came after he criticized the law as too strict.
Trump alternated his boasting with nominating judges who helped dismantle federal abortion protections and attempts to appear more neutral. It was an attempt to bridge the divide between his base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.
About 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow a person to get a legal abortion if they don’t want to get pregnant for any reason, according to a July poll by the Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research and NORC. Voters in seven states, including some conservative ones, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to limit them on statewide ballots in the past two years.
Trump also repeats the narrative that he has returned the issue of abortion rights to the states, even though voters have no direct say on that or any other issue in about half the states. This is especially true for those living in the South, where Republican-controlled legislatures, many of which have been manipulated to give the GOP disproportionate power, have enacted some of the strictest abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Currently, 13 states have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while four more ban it after six weeks – before many women know they are pregnant.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies in state governments are using a range of strategies to oppose proposed ballot initiatives in at least eight states this year.
Here’s a breakdown of Trump’s shifting positions on reproductive rights.
FLORIDA FLIPFLOP
On Tuesday, Trump said some abortion laws were “too strict” and would be “overhauled.”
But in August, Trump said he would vote against a state ballot measure that sought to overturn a six-week abortion ban passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
It came a day after he appeared to make it clear he would vote in favor of the measure. Trump previously called Florida’s six-week ban a “terrible mistake” and too extreme. In an April interview with Time magazine, Trump reiterated that he “thinks six weeks is too hard.”
TRUMP VETOES NATIONAL BAN
Trump’s latest U-turn involves his views on the national abortion ban.
During the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that he would veto a national abortion ban: “Everybody knows that I would not support a federal abortion ban under any circumstances, and in fact I would veto it.”
It comes just weeks after Trump repeatedly refused to say during a presidential debate with Democrat Kamala Harris whether he would veto a national abortion ban if elected.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said in an interview with NBC News before the presidential debate that Trump would veto the ban. In response to debate moderators who pressed him on Vance’s statement, Trump said, “I haven’t discussed it with JD, to be honest. And I don’t mind if he has a certain opinion, but I don’t think he was talking about me.”
“PRO-CHOICE” FOR A 15-WEEK BAN
Trump’s shift in policy positions on abortion began when the former reality TV star and entrepreneur began flirting with running for office.
He once called himself “very pro-choice.” But before he became president, Trump said he would “really support a ban,” according to his book, “The America We Deserve,” published in 2000.
In his first year as president, he said he was “pro-life with exceptions,” but also said there “must be some form of punishment” for women seeking abortions — a position he quickly reversed.
At the annual March for Life in 2018, Trump expressed support for a federal ban on abortions at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Most recently, Trump suggested in March that he might support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks before announcing that he would instead leave the issue up to the states.
VIEWS ON THE ABORTION PILL, PERSECUTION OF WOMEN
In the Time interview, Trump said it should be left up to states to decide whether to prosecute women for abortions or monitor women’s pregnancies.
“The states will make that decision,” Trump said. “The States will have to feel comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.”
Democrats seized on comments he made in 2016, saying “there needs to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions.
Trump also declined to comment on access to the abortion pill mifepristone, saying he has “pretty strong views” on the issue. He said he would make a statement on the matter, but it never came.
Trump responded similarly when asked about his views on the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that was revived by anti-abortion groups seeking to block mifepristone from being sent through the mail.
IVF AND CONTRACEPTION
In May, Trump said during an interview with a Pittsburgh television station that he was open to supporting contraception regulations and that his campaign would release a policy on the issue “very soon.” He later said his comments had been misinterpreted.
In the KDKA interview, Trump was asked, “Do you support any restrictions on an individual’s right to contraception?”
“We’re looking at it and I’ll have a policy on it very soon,” Trump replied.
Since then, Trump has not issued a policy statement on contraception.
Trump has also offered controversial statements about IVF.
During a Fox News town hall that was taped on Tuesday, Trump claimed to be the “father of IVF,” though he acknowledged during his response that he needed an explanation for IVF in February after The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
Trump said he instructed Sen. Katie Britt to “explain IVF to him very quickly” after the ruling.
As concerns grow about access to infertility treatment, Trump has vowed to promote IVF by requiring health insurance companies or the federal government to pay for it. Such a move would be at odds with the actions of much of his own party.
Even as the Republican Party has tried to create a national narrative that it is receptive to IVF, those messaging efforts have been undermined by GOP lawmakers, the Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders in the party, as well as the opposition. of legislative attempts to protect access to IVF.
