Trump clarifies abortion views after months of mixed signals

Former President Donald Trump has clarified his views on abortion after months of speculation ahead of the election.

In a video posted to his social media platform Truth Social today,Trumpsaid ‘many states will be different… and that’s what they will be.’

He explained: ‘Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights.

‘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.’

Abortion is set to be a hot topic issue in the upcoming 2024 US presidential elections – but Trump has declined to lay out a timeline for when he believes abortion should be banned.

After the US Supreme Court tore up Roe v Wade, which for nearly 50 years legalised abortion, in 2022, different states now have different restrictions.

Trump posted a video sharing his views on Truth Social (Picture: Reuters)

Abortion has been a hot topic issue ahead of the 2024 elections (Picture: Getty)

Fourteen mainly Republican-led states have banned abortion in almost all circumstances, while five have enforced restrictions, usually earlier than what Roe v Wade allowed.

Democrats believe the fight over abortion rights helps them at the polls and have outperformed expectations in elections since, with some blue states adding extra legal protections.

Trump added: ‘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 it’s all about will of the people.’

Trump had long argued that the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe gave those who oppose abortion rights ‘tremendous power to negotiate.’

Some states have proposed a 15-week abortion ban (Picture: Reuters)

Trump has previously voiced pro-life views (Picture: Reuters)

He said he wanted to use that leverage to strike a deal that would ‘make both sides happy’ and bring the country ‘together’ – even though the issue is one of the most contentious in American politics.

Trump suggested last month in a WABC radio interview he was leaning toward supporting a national abortion ban at around 15 weeks of pregnancy – early in the second trimester.

Trump added: ‘Everybody agrees – you’ve heard this for years – all the legal scholars on both sides agree: It’s a state issue. It shouldn’t be a federal issue, it’s a state issue.’

The former president has repeatedly criticised fellow Republicans for being too hard-line on abortion, blaming candidates who did not allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the pregnant person is at risk for the party’s losses that November.

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