Former President Donald Trump claimed Roe v. Wade gave mothers the right to “kill the baby after birth” when he clarified his views on abortion during an interview Thursday.
Trump spoke with Sean Hannity during his visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas.
The former president’s views on the issue have made headlines recently, as Trump called reports that he was considering a 16-week federal abortion ban “fake news.”
Earlier this week, he spoke out against the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling against IVF treatments, which he reiterated Thursday, calling it a “harsh decision.”
When Hannity asked him where he stood on the issue, he compared himself to Ronald Reagan, saying he believed in exceptions despite being pro-life and claiming pro-abortion Democrats are radicals on this issue.
Former President Donald Trump claimed Roe v. Wade gave mothers the right “to kill the baby after birth” as he clarified his views on abortion during an interview Thursday
“I think it’s really important that there are exceptions,” he said.
‘I also think they are the radicals because they will kill the baby in eight, nine months. Under Roe v. Wade, they had the right to kill the baby after birth. I mean, in some cases literally after birth.”
He claimed that former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, favored such a policy.
Northam had said in recent years that if a fetus was not viable and a woman gave birth, doctors and the mother would have “a discussion” about its viability.
“We want that, we want people to help, we are on the side of women,” before adding, “The same goes for the abortion issue.” The abortion issue, I am for the exceptions like Ronald Reagan was for the exceptions.”
Trump said these views, which he communicated to Alabama GOP Sen. Katie Britt, were why he released his statement on IVF.
“I call on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly and find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF,” he wrote on Truth Social last Friday.
Trump has repeatedly been somewhat critical of the Republican Party’s handling of post-Roe abortion in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections, but now blames Democrats for the way they communicated this to voters .
When Hannity asked him where he stood on the issue, he compared himself to Ronald Reagan and said he believed in exceptions despite being pro-life and claiming Democrats are pro-abortion. Democrats are radicals on this issue.
Trump spoke with Sean Hannity during his visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas
Trump claimed that former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, supported a policy of post-birth abortions
“I think the issue of abortion has played a very big role,” he said. They have demagogued that issue in 2022, in the medium term, and I think that has hurt Republicans.”
The New York Times reported that Trump told his advisers that a 16-week federal abortion ban would be appropriate as long as it included exceptions for rape, incest or preserving a mother’s life.
“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both parties and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with,” National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters.
Republicans have suffered repeated political losses on abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Since then, Trump has remained reluctant to publicly voice his opinion on a federal abortion ban, choosing instead to float the idea of a deal between pro-life and pro-choice activists.
“I would sit down with both sides and negotiate something and then we will reach peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years,” he said in an interview with NBC in September when asked about the issue.
In the same interview, Trump criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for signing a six-week abortion ban, as DeSantis was still running against the former president for the Republican nomination at the time.
“I think what he did is terrible and a terrible mistake,” Trump said.
Trump often touts the fact that Roe v. Wade, thanks to his Supreme Court appointments, has been overturned, a long-standing goal for pro-life activists, putting the issue of abortion back on the states.
Former US president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally
President Donald Trump remains reluctant to publicly endorse a federal abortion ban
Republican governors like DeSantis have taken the opportunity to sign more restrictive abortion laws, while Democrats continue to score pro-choice victories across the country.
During the Republican primaries, the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America urged Republican candidates to support a 15-week federal abortion ban, but Trump hesitated to explain his position on abortion.
The group responded to the New York Times report by endorsing the idea of a 16-week ban.
“We fully agree with President Donald Trump on protecting babies from abortion violence at 16 weeks of age, when they feel pain,” they wrote in a statement. “A majority of Americans support this compassionate position.”
Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices to the bench during his first term as president, tipping the balance of the justices against Roe v. Wade.
Pictured: President Donald Trump and Judge Amy Coney Barrett
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh (R)
Trump was also the first U.S. president to personally and publicly address the national March for Life, taking the stage at the 2020 annual rally against the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in Washington, DC.
In January he said he was “proud” to have helped overturn the decision.
“(T)hey tried to get Roe v. Wade overturned, and we did it, and I’m proud I did it,” he said in an interview on Fox News in January. “Nobody else could do that but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”
The Biden campaign released a statement from the president condemning Trump’s position.
‘The choice is very simple. Kamala and I will restore Roe v. Wade and make it the law of the land once again. Donald Trump will ban abortion nationwide,” Biden said. “That’s what’s at stake in November.”