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WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that abortion laws should be determined by states, stopping short of proposing a national ban and choosing a more moderate stance ahead of a November election.
In a video posted on his social media platform, the former president said he supported exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. He also reiterated that he supports the availability of in-vitro fertilization.
He did not back any national ban to prohibit abortions beyond any number of weeks into a pregnancy, defying hopes among some religious and conservative backers that he would pursue national limits should he return to the White House.
Trump previously signaled support for a ban beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy but said political considerations were paramount in the first presidential election since a Supreme Court ruling in 2022 ending a nearly 50-year federal right to the procedure.
"Always go by your heart. But we must win. We have to win," Trump said in the video.
While his statement aimed to carve out a political middle ground, it drew criticism from both Democrats on the left who favor abortion rights and anti-abortion groups on the right, underscoring the divisiveness around the issue.
Alluding to the three conservative justices he appointed to the Supreme Court, Trump took credit for the high court's overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which had protected a right to abortion at up to around 24 to 28 weeks.
The court's decision triggered a voter backlash that was widely credited with curbing Republican gains in the 2022 congressional midterm elections and propelling Democrats to victories in some state elections last year.
"This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds and vote of the people in each state. It was really something. Now it's up to the states to do the right thing," Trump said.
This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds and vote of the people in each state. It was really something. Now it's up to the states to do the right thing.
–Donald Trump
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has made Trump's opposition to abortion rights a tenet of his re-election campaign, and a call for a national ban could have hurt Trump's chances in the six or seven states likely to determine the outcome in November.
"Donald Trump is endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions. And he's bragging about his role in creating this hellscape," Ammar Moussa, director of rapid response for the Biden campaign, wrote on the X social media platform on Monday.
Trump had criticized a six-week ban pursued by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former rival for the Republican nomination, as overly restrictive and politically toxic.
With Roe v. Wade overturned, leaving abortion to the states is his way of punting on the issue. Now that the primary is over, there's nothing to be gained from proposing a national abortion ban, as he'll lose support from voters in many swing states.
–Jeanette Hoffman, Republican political consultant
While Americans tend to accept restrictions on abortion after the first trimester, polls also show that a sizable majority prefer to have the decision made by the patient and her doctor, not the government.
"With Roe v. Wade overturned, leaving abortion to the states is his way of punting on the issue," Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican political consultant, said of Trump's position. "Now that the primary is over, there's nothing to be gained from proposing a national abortion ban, as he'll lose support from voters in many swing states."
Back to the states
The Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade allowed the matter to be decided state-by-state. In response, Republicans have enacted restrictive abortion laws in nearly two dozen states.
Overall, 57% of Americans think abortion should be legal in most or all cases, a March Reuters/Ipsos poll found. But while a sizable majority of Democrats — 83% — think it should be legal in most or all cases, most Republican poll respondents — some 57% — think abortion should be outlawed in most or all cases.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said on Monday she was "deeply disappointed" in Trump's position, arguing it would allow Democratic lawmakers to take steps to expand access to the procedure in some states.
"Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry," Dannenfelser said in a statement.
