NEW YORK — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance claims that if elected president, Donald Trump would oppose a national abortion ban and would veto such legislation if it reached his desk.
“I can absolutely commit that,” Vance said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked if he could guarantee Trump would not impose such a ban. “Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue.”
The Ohio senator also insisted that if such legislation were passed by Congress, Trump, the former president and this year’s Republican contender, would veto it.
“I mean, if you’re not supporting it as president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it,” he said in a Sunday interview.
Trump Would Veto Legislation Establishing A Federal Abortion Ban, Vance Says
Vance’s remarks come after Democrats spent night after night at their national convention in Chicago last week criticizing Trump for his role in appointing the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively ending the constitutional right to abortion in the United States and paving the way for bans and restrictions in Republican-led states.
However, efforts to neutralize an issue that Democrats believe would galvanize voters this autumn risk alienating members of Trump’s base who oppose abortion rights.
“God have mercy on this nation if this is now the position of what was the Pro-Life Party,” said Family Research Council president Tony Perkins in a post on Sunday, linked to a report about Vance’s remarks.
While Trump has regularly boasted about his part in overturning Roe, he has recently responded to Democrats’ threats that if he wins a second term, he will go even further in restricting access.
“My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” he wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform, using rhetoric from abortion rights campaigners and the left.
His remarks sparked a barrage of criticism from anti-abortion activists, including the editor of the conservative National Review, who wrote an essay headed “Trump’s Abandonment of Pro-Lifers Is Complete.”
Hours later, during an event in Las Vegas, Trump repeated the story.
“I strongly support women’s reproductive rights. The IVF (in vitro fertilization) is quite powerful. I mean, we’re at the forefront of this. “I believe people are noticing that,” he told reporters.
Democrats have expressed profound skepticism towards Trump.
“American women are not stupid and we are not going to trust the futures of our daughters and granddaughters to two men who have openly bragged about blocking access to abortion for women all across this country,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, speaking to NBC.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., brushed off a question about how Trump would be “great” for reproductive rights.
“You should ask him about that. “I would say that President Trump was a very good pro-life president,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The pro-life community,” Graham told reporters, “is organised around the well-being of the child, giving the mother options other than an abortion.” Graham stated, “that movement will continue after he’s gone.”
Trump has often hesitated to discuss abortion. Before entering politics, he defined himself as “very pro-choice.” Earlier this year, he struggled with his position on a federal abortion ban, stating at one point that he would support one at roughly 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, and when the mother’s life is in danger. He subsequently arrived at his current position, which is that limits should be left to individual states.
Trump has yet to state how he intends to vote on an upcoming ballot proposal addressing Florida’s six-week prohibition.
In an interview with CBS News earlier this week, Trump said he had “no regrets” about his involvement in overturning Roe v Wade. However, after months of contradictory pronouncements, he stated that he would not use the Comstock Act, a federal law, to try to prohibit the distribution of drugs used as an alternative to surgical abortions. Some of his allies have advocated for this, and Vance has previously backed it.
“We will be discussing specifics of it, but generally speaking, no,” he told me. “I would not do that.”
“It will be available, and it is now. As far as I know, the Supreme Court has said, ‘Keep it running the way it is.’ “I will enforce and agree with the Supreme Court, but they have said, keep it the way it is now,” he stated.
Trump Would Veto Legislation Establishing A Federal Abortion Ban, Vance Says
Abortion has been a significant motivation for Democrats since the Roe decision in the summer of 2022, and the party anticipates it will continue to play an important role this year.
On stage at the Democratic convention, women shared horrific personal tales about having to carry unviable pregnancies to term and being denied miscarriage care, putting their future fertility at risk.
“This is what’s going on in our country due of Donald Trump. And recognise that he is not done,” Vice President Kamala Harris stated in her acceptance speech for her party’s nomination.
Trump, who was replying to the address in real time, incorrectly said, “Everybody, Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, and Conservatives, wanted Roe v. Wade TERMINATED, and brought back to the States.”
“I do not limit access to birth control or I.V.F. – THAT IS A LIE, these are all false stories that she’s making up,” claimed the author. “I TRUST WOMEN, ALSO, AND I WILL KEEP WOMEN SAFE!”
SOURCE | AP
