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Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he would not sign a federal abortion ban if he is reelected to the White House, marking the former president’s latest development on the issue. Throughout his long career in public life and politics, dating back 25 years, Trump has been on every side of controversial debates, sometimes seeming to shift his stance to match the politics of the voters he seeks to support. It looks like
Below is a timeline of President Trump’s notable statements on abortion.
While publicly exploring a presidential campaign for the 2000 election, Trump told “Meet the Press” that “I’m very pro-choice,” and that his views were a free-for-all in New York. He suggested that it was formed by political ideology.
“I hate the concept of abortion,” he said. “Still, I just believe in choice.”
Trump’s 1999 comments will become the focus of attacks from his Republican rivals in 2016, as he now seeks the Republican presidential nomination in earnest. Asked about Trump during a 2015 debate, Trump said he has “evolved.”
“Who else is Ronald Reagan more evolved on so many issues,” Trump said.
President Trump referred to his turning point as the child he had with a friend who was “going to be aborted.” And it wasn’t canceled. And that kid is an absolute superstar today, a great, great kid. ”
As he moves towards winning the Republican nomination, Trump’s message on abortion has oscillated between appealing to general election voters and appeasing skeptical conservative hardliners. His contradictory comments about “Planned Parenthood” released immediately after his overwhelming performance on Super Tuesday revealed the distortion of his heart.
“Family planning has worked extremely well for millions of women,” he said. “But as long as abortions are performed at Planned Parenthood, we’re not going to allow them, we’re not going to fund them. We understand that, and I’m going to call it out. I said it loud and clear.”
“Let’s see what happens,” he continued. “But I received thousands of letters from women who had been helped. This was not a set up, people were writing letters.”
Trump’s tense efforts continued later that month, with the former president arguing for and against penalizing women who obtain abortions in a three-hour period.
During a televised town hall, MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked Trump whether women seeking abortions should face any repercussions if abortion were made illegal nationwide.
“There has to be some form of punishment,” President Trump said during the event.
“For women?” Matthews asked, to which Trump replied, “Yes.”
Amid growing backlash against this statement, Trump’s campaign released a statement from President Trump saying, “This issue is opaque and should be returned to the states.”
But soon after, President Trump completely backtracked and issued a much longer statement.
“If Congress passes a law making abortion illegal and a federal court upholds the bill, or if any state is allowed to ban abortion under state and federal law, “The doctor or anyone else who committed this illegal act will be held legally accountable, not the woman,” Trump said. “In this case, both the woman and the life inside her womb are victims.”
President Trump signed a letter pledging to enact legislation that would criminalize abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions in cases where the mother’s life is in danger or cases involving rape or incest. The bill, which passed the House but failed to advance in the Senate, was called the Pain-Responsive Fetal Protection Act.
In a debate with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, President Trump promised to reshape the U.S. Supreme Court with candidates who are anti-abortion.
“The judges I appoint will be pro-life and will have conservative leanings,” he said.
Later in the debate, Trump predicted that his candidate would help end Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that has guided abortion policy in the United States for decades. By then, Trump had released a list of candidates he would consider to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.
“Well, if we put two or three more judges on the court, that will happen. In my opinion, it will happen automatically because I have pro-life judges on the court.” said Mr. Trump. “I will say this: It will go back to the state and then the state will make the decision.”
In one of his first acts as president, Trump signed a memorandum blocking the United States from funding organizations that provide abortion services, including counseling.
Four months later, President Trump signed a bill that allows states to withhold federal funds from abortion providers, reversing an Obama-era regulation. Unusually, Trump signed the bill behind closed doors and away from television cameras.
During his re-election campaign, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington.
In front of a crowd on the National Mall, President Trump delivered the most impressive and emphatic defense of his anti-abortion policies, making his opposition clear and unapologetically clear. He repeatedly evoked Christianity and vowed to “veto any bill that undermines pro-life policies or encourages the destruction of human life.”
“Never before have we had such a powerful advocate for unborn children in the White House,” he said. “And as the Bible teaches, each person is ‘wonderfully created.'”
President Trump claimed victory in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case after the Supreme Court, led by three candidates, ruled 6-3 to abolish the federal right to abortion.
More than a year after leaving the White House, President Trump called it “the greatest victory of my life in a generation,” and said the result was “as promised, including nominating and securing three highly regarded and influential people.” This was possible because we did everything.” Constitutional advocates confirmed it to the U.S. Supreme Court. ”
“It was such an honor to do that!”
After the Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, President Trump blamed anti-abortion hardliners for these losses in a New Year’s message shared on his social media site Truth Social. he accused.
Announcing his latest presidential campaign just a week after the 2022 election, Trump wrote, “It’s not my fault that the Republican Party failed to live up to expectations in the midterm elections.” “It was the ‘abortion issue’ that lost a large number of voters, and many Republicans, especially those who firmly maintain that there are no exceptions even in cases of rape, incest, and the mother’s life, have insufficiently responded. was.”
Days later, Trump again slammed evangelical leaders who withheld support from his third bid for the White House.
“No one has done more for the right to life than Donald Trump,” Trump said in an interview. “We appointed three Supreme Court justices, and they all voted. And they got what they’ve been fighting for for 64 years, for years and years.”
He added: “There is great dishonesty in politics, and it is a manifestation of dishonesty.”
Throughout the most recent Republican presidential primary, President Trump sidestepped his opponents, sidestepped debates and avoided taking a stance on federal laws restricting abortion.
His rare talk about abortion during the primary campaign was intended to strengthen his position that Republicans made themselves politically vulnerable by rushing to restrict access to abortions after the Dobbs ruling. Ta. That included criticizing Ron DeSantis, his local governor and Republican primary rival, for signing a law banning abortions within six weeks of pregnancy in most cases.
“I think what he did was a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said.
Mr. DeSantis and other Republican candidates used Mr. Trump’s comments to try to drive a wedge between the former president and the Republican base, to no avail.
To the confusion and frustration of some in his campaign, Trump recently flirted with supporting a federal ban on abortions at 15 weeks.
“The people agree on the 15th, I’m thinking about it with that in mind, and I think we’ll get a very reasonable outcome,” Trump said in a recent radio appearance, without providing evidence. .
CNN reported last week that several of Trump’s top aides, including former presidential aide Kellyanne Conway and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, lobbied the former president to support a federal abortion ban.
Two Florida Supreme Court decisions – one paving the way for a six-week abortion ban in the state, and another in November giving Floridians the chance to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution. — has drawn attention to the Sunshine State’s most famous citizen.
Trump, who lives in Florida and whose state is scheduled to hold an abortion referendum this fall, avoided mentioning the latest developments in his home state during a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Next week, I’m going to make a statement on abortion,” Trump teased instead.
In a lengthy video statement, President Trump said that “states will decide by vote, by law, or both” the future of abortion access in the United States, effectively endorsing support for the federal abortion ban. Rejected.
In his speech, President Trump thanked the six Republican-appointed judges who overturned Roe v. Wade, saying they had the “courage to finally end this long, hard-fought battle.”
“The last 50 years of fighting Roe v. Wade took it out of the hands of the federal government and put it in the hearts, minds and votes of the people in each state. It was truly amazing,” he said. “Now, it’s up to the state to do the right thing.”
President Trump went on to signal support for exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or where the health of the mother could be at risk, but to protect access for women facing these scenarios. It stopped short of suggesting federal legislation. Many states that restrict abortion have no such exceptions, and some have onerous requirements that leave pregnant women and doctors confused and fearful of legal retaliation.
President Trump said he would not sign a national abortion ban if elected, reversing a promise he made as a candidate in 2016 and one he supported during his first term in the White House.
Appearing on the tarmac in Atlanta, Trump was asked by reporters whether he would sign a national abortion ban if passed by Congress.
“No,” the former president said, shaking his head.
“Aren’t you going to sign it?” the reporter asked.
“No,” Trump said again.
This article and heading have been updated with additional information.
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