Former President of the United States, Donald Trump has announced his position on whether abortion should be banned.
This comes after months of not taking a stance on the crucial issue in his 2024 rematch with President Biden.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee had taken to his social media platform on Sunday night to say that he would issue a statement on “abortion and abortion rights.”
In a video posted Monday morning, Trump explicitly affirmed his support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and emphasized his support for states determining their own laws for abortion so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
“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,” Trump said. Many states will be different. Many states will have a different number of weeks…at the end of the day it is all about the will of the people.”
Trump told reporters last week at a campaign stop in Michigan that he would make a statement in the coming week after he was asked about his home state of Florida’s controversial six-week abortion ban, which will soon be going into effect.
Trump maintained that he was proud of the role he played in overturning Roe v. Wade, saying legal scholars on “both sides” had been in favour of the move.
“The Republican Party should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers, fathers and their beautiful babies. IVF is an important part of that,” Trump said.
The former president added on Sunday night that “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.”
US election: ‘Abortion should be decided by states, peoples will – Trump