Trump asserts abortion rights should be decided by states
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declares that states should have the authority to decide on abortion rights, following the Florida Supreme Court’s decision
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday that states should have the authority to decide on abortion rights.
The declaration came just days after the Florida Supreme Court made the same decision.
Trump, in a video that was uploaded on his Truth Social network, declared: “My view is now that we have an abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state.”
The declaration is made amid a Republican Party that is still debating how to position itself on abortion and strike a balance between the demands of its conservative base and the views of the general public.
US President Joe Biden, a devoted Catholic who is running against Trump on the Democratic ticket in November, has always been in favor of abortion access and has vowed to veto any nationwide ban put forth by Congress.
In response to Trump’s comments, Biden declared, “Trump is scrambling…,” accusing the former president of lying.
“He is – more than anyone in America – responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America,” the U.S. president added.
Trump’s views on abortion have changed over time to reflect the nuances of the debate inside the Republican Party. Although he has taken great satisfaction in appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which helped overturn Roe v. Wade, he has also made an effort to keep certain policies vague to keep parts of his base happy.
Trump has not explicitly affirmed his support for a 16-week countrywide abortion ban, despite earlier reports implying that he does.
The question of whether he would support a nationwide ban if one were to be offered in the future by a Republican-led Congress was left out of his most recent remarks.
The Republican Party was divided by the news, with several well-known members voicing dissatisfaction. The anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony List and Senator Lindsey Graham expressed their displeasure with Trump’s stance and called for further restrictions on abortion.
Republican-led states have sought almost complete restrictions on abortion, while Democrats have retaliated with attempts to protect access to the procedure through referendums in their states.
Florida, a Republican stronghold, is about to enact a six-week abortion ban, and in November, a referendum will be held to ratify access rights in the state constitution. Trump did not, however, mention the Florida restriction or state how he would vote in the next election.
There is still disagreement in the public on abortion; most Americans believe it should be permitted in most situations. Democrats have jumped on the chance to paint Trump as a foe of women’s rights and to promise to uphold Roe if they take back control of Congress.
Trump attempted to paint Democrats as being extreme on the subject by asserting unsupported statements about their support for post-birth “execution” and late-term abortions, even as he restated his support for exceptions in situations of rape, incest, and the mother’s life.
According to official data, late-term abortions are extremely uncommon and usually carried out for medical purposes. The larger political discussion of abortion rights is still influencing the political scene in advance of the November election, despite Trump’s attempts to portray Democrats as extremists.
Source: AFP
