Former President Donald Trump said his shift in position on a federal abortion ban is because the nation no longer needs one.
“We don’t need it any longer because we broke Roe v. Wade, and we did something that nobody thought was possible,” President Trump said during an April 12 press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
He added that the legal process was now working “the way it’s supposed to,” with the states deciding for themselves where they stand on abortion.
“What we did was give it back to the states, and now the states are working their way through it. And you’re going to—you’re having some very, very beautiful harmony to be honest with you,” he said.
President Trump’s comments came at the end of a week in which abortion dominated the headlines. The former president himself reignited the national debate by announcing his stance on the issue earlier this week.
The following days saw legislative action from lawmakers in Tennessee and Maine on the issue, as well as a controversial ruling in Arizona allowing a near-total abortion ban to take effect.
During Friday’s press conference, President Trump reiterated his opposition to that ruling but added that he thought it would be changed by Arizona’s lawmakers.
At one point, years before he was first elected, President Trump openly identified as pro-choice. Noting this, a reporter asked him to clarify what he identifies as today: pro-life or pro-choice.
“You know exactly which one it is,” he replied, pointing again to his role in nominating three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe.
“And I’ll tell you, the Democrats are the radicals on this because they’re willing to have abortions in the seventh, eighth, ninth month. … And you can say what you want, but that’s extreme, and that’s radical, and nobody should have that. And it has to be ended.”
The 45th president’s hands-off approach to abortion has frustrated members of his own base, many of whom are staunchly pro-life. His rejection of a federal abortion ban and support for the legality of abortion in some circumstances has even led some pro-life leaders to question his sincerity in his claims of being pro-life.
Following the former president’s Monday announcement that he felt abortion was a states’ rights issue, And Then There Were None and Pro-Love Ministries founder Abby Johnson took to X to respond.
“We have got to stop listening to ‘leaders’ who are willing to sell their soul for an election and/or ‘leaders’ who still need education on the most important issue in our lifetime,” she continued. “If you don’t understand the significant damage abortion does to our society, then step aside.”
Abortion remains a difficult issue for the GOP, which has struggled to pinpoint a specific party position amid Roe’s reversal. For decades, the goal was to undo Roe. When that goal was achieved in 2022, the new path forward was less clear.
Since the court’s bombshell ruling, states have passed abortion laws left and right, and contrary to President Trump’s claims of “harmony,” many are still tied up in contentious legal battles over those laws.
In November, the abortion fight will again be front and center as voters in various states sound off on the issue at the ballot box. But if the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s position is to set the standard for the rest of his party, there may not be a fight at all.
