Former President Donald Trump claimed that Roe v. Wade gave mothers the right to “kill the baby after birth” by clarifying her 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 been making headlines lately, as Trump called reports that he was considering a federal ban on 16-week abortions “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 stating that pro-abortion Democrats are radical on the issue.
Former President Donald Trump claimed that Roe v. Wade gave mothers the right to “kill the baby after birth” by clarifying her views on abortion during an interview Thursday.
“I think exceptions are something very important,” he said.
‘I also think they are the radicals, because they will kill the baby in eight months, nine months. According to Roe v. Wade, they had the right to kill the baby after birth. I mean literally after birth in some cases.’
He claimed that former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, had favored such a policy.
Northam had said in previous 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 us, we are on the side of women,” before adding: “The same goes for the issue of abortion.” On the issue of abortion, I am now in favor of exceptions as Ronald Reagan was.’
Trump said those views, which he communicated to Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, were the reason he released his statement on IVF.
“I call on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF,” he wrote in Truth Social last Friday.
Trump has repeatedly spoken somewhat critically about the GOP’s handling of abortion after Roe in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections, but he now blames Democrats for how they pressured him on voters.
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 stating that pro-abortion Democrats are radical on the issue.
Trump spoke with Sean Hannity during his visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas.
Trump claimed that former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, had been a supporter of a postpartum abortion policy
“I think the abortion issue played a very important role,” he said. “They demagogued that issue in 2022, mid-term, and I think it hurt the Republicans.”
The New York Times reported that Trump told advisers that a 16-week federal abortion ban would be appropriate, as long as it included exceptions for rape, incest or preserving the life of the mother.
“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both sides and negotiate an agreement that everyone would be happy with,” national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters.
Republicans have suffered repeated political losses on the abortion issue since Roe v. Wade. Since then, Trump remains reluctant to publicly express his opinion on a federal abortion ban, preferring instead to float the idea of an agreement between pro-life and pro-choice activists.
“I would sit down with both sides and negotiate something and we would end up with 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 a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said.
Trump frequently touts the fact that thanks to his Supreme Court appointments, Roe v. Wade was overturned, a long-standing goal for pro-life activists, returning the abortion issue to the states.
Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally
President Donald Trump remains hesitant to publicly support 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 was reluctant to detail his position on abortion.
The group responded to the New York Times report by backing the idea of a 16-week ban.
“We fully agree with President Donald Trump on protecting babies from the violence of abortion at 16 weeks when they are in pain,” they wrote in a statement. “The majority of Americans support this compassionate position.”
Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his first term as president, tipping the scales against Roe v. Wade.
Pictured: President Donald Trump and Judge Amy Coney Barrett
United States Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh (R)
Trump was also the first American president to personally and publicly address the national March for Life, taking the stage at the 2020 annual rally against the Roe v. Wade of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
In January, he said he was “proud” to have helped overturn the decision.
“(They) were trying to end Roe v. Wade, and I did it, and I’m proud that I did it,” he said in an interview on Fox News in January. “No one else was going to accomplish that but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”
The Biden campaign issued a statement from the president condemning Trump’s position.
‘The choice is very simple. Kamala and I will restore Roe v. Wade and we will make it the law of the land once again. “Donald Trump will ban abortion nationwide,” Biden said. “That’s what’s at stake this November.”