Stephanie Lai
Donald Trump said some states restricting abortion rights are “too strict” and should roll back those measures in a bid to convince women skeptical of his views on reproductive health care.
“It will happen again. They'll go away, you'll go away, you'll end up with the people's vote,” Trump said Tuesday at a town hall moderated by Fox News' Harris Faulkner in Cummings, Georgia. “They are very tough, very tough. And they will do it again because there is already a movement in these states.”
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The Republican candidate didn't specify what state he was talking about, but he cited Ohio as an example of a GOP-led state that voted to expand abortion rights in a recent vote.
Access to abortion — and the federal government's role in restricting the procedure — has become a major political liability for Trump, whose judicial nominees rejected abortion protections in 2022. Trump has sought to distance himself from the issue, saying it is no longer a federal matter and the decision rests with the states.
Trump remains defensive on the issue of abortion, both touting his role in appointing three judges who rejected federal protections for abortion in order to boost his support among religious voters and claiming to be a champion of reproductive rights by neutralizing the issue ahead of the general election.
Trump, during the vice presidential debate earlier this month, posted on social media that he “will under no circumstances support a federal abortion ban, and in fact will veto it.” During the debate, his running mate, J.D. Vance, acknowledged that abortion remains a key issue for the party, stating that Americans “don't trust” Republicans on abortion.
In November, the former president's home state of Florida will hold an abortion referendum that would expand abortion rights, currently limited to the first six weeks of pregnancy in the state. Trump said in August that he would vote against the measure, although he said that six weeks – before many women even get pregnant – is too short a period to allow women access to the procedure.
The former president lied that Democrats support abortion immediately before or immediately after the birth of a child. There are no states that allow “at birth” abortions, and abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy are extremely rare.
Vice President Kamala Harris called state restrictions on abortion rights “Trump's abortion ban” and highlighted the death of a woman on a battlefield in Georgia who did not have access to legal abortion. Both Trump and Harris are running for suburban and independent women's courts, and the candidates find themselves in a tight race just three weeks before Election Day.
During his lone debate with Harris, Trump repeatedly hesitated to veto a bill implementing a nationwide abortion ban, insisting that the Supreme Court's ruling left the issue up to the states. However, his message was inconsistent, as Trump said he was open to limiting access to pills used in medical abortions and pledged that the US government or insurance companies would cover the costs of in vitro fertilization.
In vitro fertilization treatment became a flashpoint in the campaign, with Democrats warning that rulings banning abortion could impact the availability of infertility treatment.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll conducted in September among likely voters in swing states found that 56% of voters said they trusted Harris more on abortion and 32% said they trusted Trump – a gap that has widened in recent months.
Several states, including the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, will put abortion-related measures on the ballot on Election Day.