WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday announced a change in his position on abortion laws, releasing a video in which he advocates for state legislatures to decide abortion laws instead of Congress. Immediately thereafter, it faced strong criticism from influential anti-abortion groups. We should continue the national debate.
“My current view is that from a legal standpoint abortion is happening wherever anyone wants it, that each state decides by vote or by law or both, and whatever a state decides is a national decision. It has to be the law of the state. In this case, it’s the law of the state,” Trump said for nearly five minutes. video he posted on social media.
“A lot of states are going to be different, a lot of states are going to have a different number of weeks, some states are going to be more conservative than others, and that’s how it’s going to be,” he added. Ta. “In the end, this is all a matter of people’s will. They must follow their heart, or in many cases their religion or faith.”
President Trump has said he supports exceptions to the abortion ban that would allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the pregnant patient.
President Trump’s video comments he made on the campaign trail He said he supports a 16-week national ban.
The policy change, with less than seven months until Election Day, is an attempt to appeal to centrist Republicans and their base, especially women, as Democrats seek to rally supporters of reproductive rights. It could be seen as an initiative by President Trump.
Over the past two years, voters in many states have Approved voting questions Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio.
including several other states arizona and floridathis November’s vote is likely to feature questions about access to abortion, along with the choice of president and representatives in both chambers of Congress.
“President Trump once said that women should be punished for seeking reproductive health care, and now that wish has been granted,” President Joe Biden said in a statement released by his re-election campaign.
“Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to get permission to receive the care they need, and forced to travel hundreds of miles to receive care,” Biden wrote. .
Biden added, “Because of Donald Trump, one in three American women already lives under extreme and dangerous bans that put lives at risk and put doctors’ ability to do their jobs in jeopardy.” “I have been threatened with prosecution for this reason,” he added. “And it’s only going to get worse.”
“Very disappointed.”
Anti-abortion groups quickly expressed displeasure with President Trump’s recent campaign stance, and reproductive rights groups questioned its veracity.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. “We recognize the actions of both the state and Congress.”
Dannenfelser said, “By calling the issue ‘back to the states,’ we are ceding the national debate to Democrats, who are relentless in their efforts to pass legislation that would require abortion throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy.” wrote. “If successful, states’ rights will be wiped out.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also broke with Trump on the issue, saying in a statement that “the pro-life movement has always been about the well-being of the unborn child, not geography.”
Graham, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would continue to push for a 15-week national abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of a pregnant patient.
Mr. Graham wrote that until he has the votes to pass the bill through Congress, he will push for legislation “requiring abortion providers to administer anesthesia to 15-week-old fetuses.”
President Trump reprimanded Dannenfelser and Graham late Monday afternoon, writing on social media that they should “study the 10th Amendment and states’ rights.” If we do that, we should be proud to support Republicans in elections, instead of making it impossible for them to win elections! ”
In another post, President Trump wrote, “I blame Lindsey Graham because the only reason he won South Carolina is because I supported him!”
In another post, Trump wrote, “We cannot allow our country to suffer further damage by losing an election on an issue that has always been and will be decided by the nation!”
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Abortion rights supporters were highly critical. Reproductive Freedom for All In a statement, President and CEO Mini Thimaraju said she did not believe Trump’s comments in the video and called him a “liar.”
“He knows he will lose voters if he publicly supports a ban, so he spread dangerous misinformation about abortion to distract from the truth about what he would do if elected,” Thimaraju said. wrote.
“He is responsible for the harm and chaos caused by Republican abortion bans in states, and all he is saying is he wants more of it,” Thimaraju added. “The stakes could not be higher: elect a reproductive freedom majority in Congress and send President Biden and Vice President Harris back to the White House to restore the federal right to abortion and expand access.” is needed.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., cast doubt on President Trump remaining in that position for any length of time, saying in a statement, “Let’s wait a few weeks and see what his new position is.” Ta.
Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a call with reporters Monday afternoon that President Trump’s video “shows support for these extreme bans, and that 50 states We have made clear that we support these bans in all respects.”
“Make no mistake about it: Leaving it up to the states supports the cruel and dangerous nationwide abortion ban made possible only by Donald Trump,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said abortion bans currently in place in Republican states sometimes exclude exceptions for rape and incest and could go into effect before a woman even knows she’s pregnant.
decision to terminate
Trump was president until 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973 in Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
conservative judges on the court In their judgment they wrote: Ending nationwide protections that “return the power to regulate abortion to the people and their elected representatives.”
If lawmakers choose to pass nationwide legislation, that would include Congress. In the video, President Trump asked if he would veto such a bill if he were re-elected and had a Republican-controlled Congress, or whether he would block the bill from reaching his desk. He did not say whether he would work on it.
In the video, President Trump personally thanked the conservative Supreme Court justices who abolished abortion rights and said he was “proudly responsible” for that decision.
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President Trump did not comment specifically in the video on whether he would try to enforce the law. Obscenity Act of 1873 Many anti-abortion advocates say mail-in abortion pills could be banned.
The law, known as the Comstock Act, was introduced in the U.S. Supreme Court in late March. the judge heard oral argument Issues surrounding access to mifepristone, one of two medications used in medical abortions.
The law, which has not been enforced for decades, prohibits the mailing of “any article designed, modified, or intended for the purpose of producing an abortion or for any obscene or immoral use.”
Trump and IVF
President Trump also touched on access to in vitro fertilization in the video, saying Republicans “want to make it easier, not harder, for mothers and families to have babies.”
“This includes helping make infertility treatments like IVF available in every state in the United States,” Trump said, adding that “couples trying to have a precious baby can use IVF.” I strongly support what can be done.”
President Trump expressed his gratitude to Alabama lawmakers. Establishment of civil and criminal protection To allow IVF clinics to resume treatment after state Supreme Court control This means that the frozen embryo will form the child.
Although many IVF clinics in the state have resumed operations after the new law took effect, one IVF clinic in Mobile, Alabama, said: I’ll stop by the end of the year Due to a lawsuit over the process.
“Today, I am pleased that the Alabama Legislature acted so quickly to pass legislation that will preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama,” President Trump said. “They were really nice and did a quick job.”
President Trump said Republicans should “always stand on the side of the miracle of life, on the side of mothers, fathers and their beautiful babies.” And that’s who we are. ”
“In vitro fertilization is an important part of that, and our great Republican Party will always stand by you as you seek life’s ultimate joy,” President Trump said.
U.S. Senate Republicans have blocked the advancement of two bills addressing access to in vitro fertilization following questions about the process in Alabama.
Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in late February. blocked The move is the result of an effort by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., to pass legislation that would implement nationwide protections for IVF patients and health care providers.
The law “is more burdensome than the limitations and requirements imposed on medically equivalent procedures, does not significantly improve reproductive health or safety of such services, and does not impose unreasonable barriers to access to such services.” This would prohibit restrictions on “assisted reproductive technology services.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford in mid-March. blocked Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., opposed quickly passing a bill that would expand access to infertility treatment for military members and veterans.
The bill, entitled the Veterans Family Health Services Act, would allow soldiers to freeze their eggs and sperm before being sent to combat zones or dangerous missions. It would also expand access to adoption services for veterans.
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