By Marisa Laudadio
7:04am PDT, Apr 11, 2024
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Donald Trump finally made a statement about his current feelings about abortion legislation after promising to weigh in — and lawmakers, his former vice president, entertainers, talk show hosts and more had strong feelings about the ex-POTUS's stance.
In a lengthy April 8 video statement that Trump shared on his Truth Social platform, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee claimed, amid some misstatements, that he thinks abortion rights should be left to the states. He did not endorse a national limit.
Read on to see his comments in full and to read how other notable names are reacting to what Trump had to say…
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On April 7, Donald Trump teased that he would be releasing his official position on abortion the following day. Here's what he said in his April 7 Truth Social post setting up the announcement:
"I will be putting out my statement on Abortion and Abortion Rights tomorrow morning. Republicans, and all others, must follow their hearts and minds, but remember that, like Ronald Reagan before me, I, and most other Republicans, believe in EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother. Great love and compassion must be shown when even thinking about the subject of LIFE, but at the same time we must use common sense in realizing that we have an obligation to the salvation of our Nation, which is currently in serious DECLINE, TO WIN ELECTIONS, without which we will have nothing other than failure, death, and destruction. We will not let that happen. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
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On April 8, Donald Trump released a video statement discussing his current position on abortion. Here it is in full, as reported by The Hill:
"Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving and healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and families to have babies, not harder. That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every state in America. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, including the vast majority of Republicans, conservatives, Christians and pro-life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby. What could be more beautiful or better than that.
"Today I'm pleased that the Alabama Legislature has acted very quickly and passed legislation that preserves the availability of IVF in Alabama. They really did a great and fast job. The Republican Party should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers, fathers, their beautiful babies, and that's what we are. IVF is an important part of that, and our great Republican Party will always be with you in your quest for the ultimate joy in life.
"Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights, especially since I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of something that all legal scholars, both sides, wanted and, in fact, demanded be ended: Roe v. Wade. They wanted it ended. It must be remembered that the Democrats are the radical ones on this position because they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month. The concept of having an abortion in the later months, and even execution after birth — and that's exactly what it is. The baby is born, the baby is executed after birth — is unacceptable, and almost everyone agrees with that.
"My view is now that we have 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. Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that's what they will be. At the end of the day this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart, or in many cases your religion or your faith. Do what's right for your family and do what's right for yourself, do what's for your children, do what's right for our country, and vote. So important to vote. At the end of the day it's all about will of the people. That's where we are right now, and that's what we want. The will of the people.
"I want to thank the six justices — Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch — incredible people, for having the courage to allow this long-term, hard-fought battle to finally end. 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.
"Like Ronald Reagan, I am strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to have our country, which is currently and very sadly a nation in decline. Our nation needs help. It needs unity, it needs all of us to work closely together. Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, everyone. We have to work together. We have to bring our nation back from the brink, and that's where it is. It's at the brink. And we will. We will do it. I promise you, we will do it.
"Always go by your heart, but we must win. We have to win. We are a failing nation, but we can be a failing nation no longer. We will make our nation great. We will make our nation greater than ever before. Thank you very much."
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Donald Trump's former vice president did not like what the ex-POTUS had to say about abortion in his April 8 video statement.
"President Trump's retreat on the Right to Life is a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020. By nominating and standing by the confirmation of conservative justices, the Trump-Pence Administration helped send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs and gave the pro-life movement the opportunity to compassionately support women and unborn children. In the landmark Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court returned the question of abortion to the states and the American people," former Vice President Mike Pence shared on X.
"The American people elect presidents, senators and congressmen, and a majority of Americans long to see minimum national protections for the unborn in federal law. But today, too many Republican politicians are all too ready to wash their hands of the battle for life. Republicans win on life when we speak the truth boldly and stand on the principle that we all know to be true — human life begins at conception and should be defended from womb to tomb," Pence continued.
"However much our Republican nominee or other candidates seek to marginalize the cause of life, I know pro-life Americans will never relent until we see the sanctity of life restored to the center of American law in every state in this country," he concluded.
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"I respectfully disagree with President Trump's statement that abortion is a states' rights issue. Dobbs does not require that conclusion legally and the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child — not geography.
"However, until we achieve this goal, the least we can do is to provide anesthesia to an unborn child facing an abortion at fifteen weeks because they can feel pain. Therefore, I will be introducing new legislation requiring abortion providers to administer anesthesia to an unborn child at fifteen weeks because they are capable of feeling pain. It is common medical practice to administer anesthesia to operate on an unborn child at fifteen weeks to save their life.
"Forty-seven of fifty European nations have national limits on abortion between twelve and fifteen weeks. This is the civilized world's position." —Republican Senator Lindsey Graham
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In his April 8 statement, "Trump does rightfully acknowledge that abortion right now is a huge political loser for Republicans," co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin — a former director of strategic communications in the Trump White House — said on "The View."
"I want to say clearly, I want Donald Trump to lose in November, no question. But what he's doing here is actually a little more strategic than it may come off," she explained. "People were pushing for him to say go with a 15-week ban, that would be the compromise. The problem is the right would say it was a betrayal because 15 weeks is too long. And then Democrats would be able to say he supported a federal ban. Now he's punting responsibility to governors. So we're going to be talking a lot about Florida and this upcoming six-week ban. 'That's Ron DeSantis's problem, that's not mine.'
"It's classic Trump, kind of trying to be everything to anyone," she continued. "And my warning is this with voters: They've showed they can separate the Republican politician from their position on abortion. So in Ohio, Kansas and Kentucky, there've been ballot initiatives to support abortion rights and they've supported it but then gone on to vote for Republicans on the very same ballot."
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"Can I just point out that normally after the ninth month, the baby is born," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said on "The View" on April 8 in response to Donald Trump's false claim that Democrats support abortion "even beyond the ninth month."
"You do also know that it is against the law past quite a bit in — much more than [he's] aware — but nobody's doing that," she continued. "And [he's] bragging about this. Fifty years, I've had this right, and here you've snatched this right out of my hands. You've taken my right as a woman to make decisions about myself and you're bragging to me and you want me to give you my vote?"
She also said, "You are not obligated to have an abortion. No one is obligated to have an abortion. So you never have to have one. And I hope no one ever has to have one. But if you find yourself in a position where you have to, i want to make sure — and i'm way past having kids — I want to make sure that if you decide this is what you need to do, I'm going get behind you because I don't know your life and if you say this is what you need, that's what i'm going to do. … It's nobody's business, it's [between] you, your doctor and God."
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"Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina — all have abortion bans. Trump supports these bans. And wants women that disagree to be punished. It's sick." –California's Governor Gavin Newsom
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"A good way to gauge what Donald Trump will do on abortion rights is to look at what he's already done. What he's done is make possible the worst abortion bans in 50 years, and brag about it." –Hillary Clinton, on X
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President Joe Biden issued a lengthy statement after Donald Trump released a video on April 8 taking credit for overturning Roe v. Wade while also saying he now believes states should decide the abortion debate.
Here is the full statement emailed by the Biden-Harris campaign to Mediaite:
"Donald Trump made it clear once again today that he is — more than anyone in America — the person responsible for ending Roe v. Wade. He is — more than anyone in America — responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America since the Dobbs decision.
"Trump once said women must be punished for seeking reproductive health care — and he's gotten his wish. Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care. In states like Florida, abortion will likely soon be illegal before many women know they're pregnant. Because of Donald Trump, one in three women in America already live under extreme and dangerous bans that put their lives at risk and threaten doctors with prosecution for doing their jobs. And that is only going to get worse. With all his empty words on fertility treatments, Trump doesn't tell you the MAGA Republicans he controls in Congress have put forward bills that could ban fertility treatments and that the Speaker of the House he empowered is one of the strongest supporters for a national abortion ban in the nation. Let there be no illusion. If Donald Trump is elected and the MAGA Republicans in Congress put a national abortion ban on the Resolute Desk, Trump will sign it into law.
"Here's what Donald Trump doesn't understand: When he ripped away Roe v. Wade, he ripped away a fundamental right for the women of America that the United States Supreme Court had affirmed and reaffirmed for 50 years. As a fundamental right, it didn't matter where you lived. It was granted to you as an American, not as a resident of any state. Generations of women had come to rely on that right. Now we're in the extraordinary position where women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. That has never happened before in America. And it cannot be allowed to stand. I am determined to restore the federal protections of Roe v. Wade. So it won't matter where you live in America: The fundamental right to choose for women will once again be the law of the land. If you give me and Vice President Harris a Democratic Congress, that is exactly what we will do.
"Trump is simply lying. There was no groundswell of support in America for overturning Roe. In fact, support for Roe is higher today in America than it has ever been. The real truth is Trump made a political deal in 2016. He promised to appoint a Court that would get rid of Roe. And he had to make good on that debt. So he did. It was never about public policy or what was right or what Trump believed. It was always about politics.
"Trump admits as much in his statement today. Having created the chaos of overturning Roe, he's trying to say, 'Oh, never mind. Don't punish me for that. I just want to win.'
"Trump is scrambling. He's worried that since he's the one responsible for overturning Roe the voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will. America was built on personal freedom and liberty. So, there is nothing more un-American than having our personal freedoms taken away. And that is what Donald Trump has done.
"As I have said many times since the Dobbs decision, Donald Trump and all those responsible for overturning Roe don't have a clue about the power of women in America. But they are about to find out."
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"Anything that [Donald Trump] says can be translated to the following, because he doesn't have any principles, he doesn't believe in anything … so you translate everything he says to 'please vote for me and put me in the White House and keep me out of Leavenworth [prison].' He has no interest in any of you, or us. He only wants to stay out of prison now. … and Americans are going to go to the polls and get rid of him this year. I believe that now…. I don't believe anything he says." —co-host Joy Behar on "The View"
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"He's a morally bankrupt person. And I still don't understand the evangelicals getting behind him, people of faith getting behind him, women getting behind him. And I actually don't understand him in this social media post [about abortion claiming] that all legal scholars agree with him. All legal scholars do not agree with you." —co-host Sunny Hostin on "The View"
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"The biggest thing he did was the Supreme Court justices and overturning Roe v. Wade. Because right now, when we talk about the six-week ban … in Georgia and Florida, that's actually the best policies we're seeing because 14 states have complete bans with very few exceptions. So when he speaks about the law and some of the legal experts, when [the right to an abortion] initially was established, there was some debate over whether the Supreme Court justices should be legislating through something like that. But 50 years later, the agreement among many legal scholars as well is that [Roe v. Wade] was a precedent and close to a super-precedent. That rolling it back for states sounds like a pleasant idea until you see what the states want to do. So I think people need to remember this when they go to the ballot boxes. … My point here is there are states where women are going to need this help and be able to have that choice." —co-host Sara Haines on "The View"
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"Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans lied about Roe v. Wade and then ended it. Don't believe anything they have to say on the subject. House Democrats will protect a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions." —House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on X
