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CNN
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Former President Donald Trump said Monday that abortion rights should be left to individual states, giving his clearest position yet on one of the most sensitive and contentious issues in American politics.
“My current view is that the abortion that everyone wanted from a legal standpoint is happening, and each state will decide by vote or by law or both. And they will decide. “Whatever it is, it has to be the law of the land. In this case, it’s the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social account.
“Many states will be different,” Trump continued. “Many people have different numbers of weeks, some are more conservative than others, but that’s their character. In the end, this all depends on the will of the people.”
President Trump previously signaled he might support a 15-week federal curfew with exceptions for cases of incest, rape and cases where the mother’s life is in danger. But he left politically difficult issues to the states, and his final decision not to support a national ban was quickly condemned by major anti-abortion rights groups as not going far enough in his position. .
President Trump said in a video Monday that he was “proudly responsible” for the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, taking the issue “out of the hands of the federal government and in the hearts and minds of Congress.” , brought it to a vote.” People from each state. ”
The former president did not say how many weeks of pregnancy he considered appropriate to ban abortions, but reiterated his support for exceptions. He previously publicly derided the state’s six-week abortion ban as “terrible” and noted that the debate over the procedure has dogged Republicans at the polls since Roe was defeated in 2022. Admitted.
President Trump told reporters last week that he intended to make a “statement” on abortion when asked about Florida’s six-week abortion ban that is set to go into effect following a recent state Supreme Court ruling. .
President Trump’s video on Monday drew immediate backlash from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group that calls for a 15-week national ban on Republican candidates in presidential primaries.
“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position. Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protection and national defense from the brutality of the abortion industry. Dobbs’ decision makes it clear that states and “Both sides of Congress were clearly authorized to act,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president.
President Trump also falsely claimed in the video that “all legal scholars on both sides” want Roe v. Wade to end and that there is now “abortion that everyone wants from a legal standpoint.” made the claim. Many academics who support abortion rights, like a clear majority of Americans in polls, did not support overturning the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Alaina Trine and Steve Contorno contributed to this report.
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