Donald Trump.Photo:Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty
Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty
Former PresidentDonald Trumphas seemingly changed his stance on a nationwide abortion ban.
In avideoshared on Truth Social on April 8, the presidential candidate said that he is “proudly the person responsible” forthe Supreme Court’s decision to overturnRoe v. Wade, because it gave individual states the authority to decide how they approach abortion regulations.
Trump went on to acknowledge that every state’s abortion laws “will be different."
“Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith.”
“Do what’s right for your family and do what’s right for yourself. Do what’s right for your children, do what’s right for our country and vote,” he continued, adding that it is “so important to vote.”
With his new statement, Trump was able to passively endorse the most extreme state bans — likeFlorida’s unpopular new six-week ban— while avoiding going on the record with his own abortion recommendations.
Polls have shown that most American voters want the federal government to pass laws that enshrine abortion access nationwide, with aMarch KFF polldetermining that 55% support federal abortion protections, compared to 19% who support a federal abortion ban.
Donald Trump.Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty
Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty
In the video, Trump did not disclose which week during a pregnancy he finds it appropriate to ban abortion, but he did say that he supports exceptions for “rape, incest and life of the mother.”
He also did not clarify what he would do if Congress sent him a national abortion ban while he was president — though pro-choice voters have already expressed concerns that he would not opt to veto.
The former president also thanked Chief Justice John Roberts and the five Supreme Court justices who voted to overturnRoe v. Wade: Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett.
“Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” he stated.
President Joe Biden.Sophie Park/Getty
Sophie Park/Getty
The statement also said that when Trump “ripped awayRoe v. Wade, he ripped away a fundamental right for the women of America that the United States Supreme Court had affirmed and reaffirmed for 50 years.”
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“As a fundamental right, it didn’t matter where you lived. It was granted to you as an American, not as a resident of any state,” Biden’s statement said. “Generations of women had come to rely on that right. Now we’re in the extraordinary position where women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. That has never happened before in America.”
“Trump is scrambling,” Biden added. “He’s worried that since he’s the one responsible for overturningRoethe voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will. America was built on personal freedom and liberty. So, there is nothing more un-American than having our personal freedoms taken away. And that is what Donald Trump has done.”
source: people.com
