NEW YORK — A major anti-abortion group is touting a published report that Donald Trump privately told people he supports a national ban on abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy, though his campaign denied the report and said the former president plans to “negotiate a deal ‘. on abortion if he is re-elected to the White House.
Trump, the front-runner to become the 2024 Republican nominee, has repeatedly refused to support specific restrictions on abortion during his campaign, although he has called himself “the most pro-life president in American history.” the appointment of three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped Roe vs. Wade, to overturn the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which supports a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and has said anything less restrictive “doesn’t make sense,” praised Trump after a New York Times report Friday that he has been private. telling people that he likes the idea of a federal ban on abortion after sixteen weeks, with some exceptions.
“President Trump is leading the way in finding consensus, and this is where the nation is,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America.
Trump’s campaign called the report “Fake News” but gave no details about its plans.
“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with,” Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement.
Democrats and abortion rights groups seized on the Times report, with President Joe Biden saying it showed abortion rights would be a central issue in the 2024 election. He said Trump was “getting scared” by not saying publicly what he would do about abortion .
“He fears that the women of America will hold him accountable for taking away their rights and endangering their rights at the ballot box in November,” Biden said in a statement. ‘And that’s exactly what’s going to happen.â€
Polls consistently show that most Americans believe abortion should be legal during the early stages of pregnancy. About half of American adults say abortions should be allowed after 15 weeks, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last June.
Although Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America praised Trump on Friday, the group publicly clashed with the former president last year when he suggested abortion restrictions should be left up to individual states. The group called that a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.”
On Friday, abortion rights groups quickly intervened to warn that if Trump wins in November, it will lead to nationwide restrictions.
If Trump is elected, he will “wreak even more damage to our reproductive rights and personal freedoms,” said Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes.
“We have long known where Donald Trump stands on abortion, and it is at odds with the views of the majority of Americans,” Lawson said in a statement. “He is primarily responsible for the ongoing public health crisis that has allowed 21 states to ban all or some abortions, and yet he claims he wants to find a ‘compromise’ on this issue. To be clear, there are no compromises when it comes to the fundamental right to control our lives and our bodies.”
The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to strike down Roe left the country with a checkerboard of state abortion laws.
The former president has said he supports exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases of rape and incest and to protect the life of the mother, but has otherwise been vague about what he would support if re-elected. He has criticized a six-week ban signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying in an interview last fall on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he doesn’t care whether abortion is banned federally or legislated is left. in every state.
“I want to do something that makes people happy,” Trump said in a January town hall on Fox News.
Trump’s position on abortion has changed over the years. He once stated in a 1999 interview, “I’m pro-choice in every respect.” But during his 2016 presidential run, as he sought crucial support from evangelical Republicans, he released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. Court that would likely vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
His attempts to find a middle ground suggest how challenging the issue is for Trump and most other Republican candidates. Banning or severely restricting abortion is almost a moot position for many Republican Party primary voters, but since the Supreme Court’s ruling nearly two years ago, it has proven to be a losing position in the general election.
Some of the immediate reaction from the right to the New York Times report showed how difficult it is for Trump and other Republicans to understand the issue.
Students for Life Action, which opposes abortion, issued a statement expressing skepticism about the report but saying: “We do want to hear from President Trump because there is a lot that can be done in his next administration – from appointments to administrative measures.” policy.â€
Kristan Hawkins, the group’s president, said a limit on abortions after 16 weeks would still allow many abortions and “not make anyone happy.”
Following a nationwide push to put questions about abortion rights before voters since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the issue is expected to come up for a vote this year in several states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri and South Dakota. Many of the campaigns have faced efforts by anti-abortion forces to keep the questions from making it to the ballot, building on strategies seen in other states like Ohio last year.
Voters in seven states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have previously sided with abortion rights advocates on ballot measures.
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Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
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