Donald Trump Opposes National Abortion Ban, Drawing Ire From Some Pro-Life Leaders

Former president Donald Trump is not supporting a national law restricting abortion.

In a video released on social media, the presumptive Republican nominee for president said the issue should be left to the states.

"Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights," Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site. "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."

Some of the country's most prominent pro-life leaders condemned his decision. 

"We are deeply disappointed in President Trump's position," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America. "Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act."

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, says the former president is "not a pro-life candidate."

Meanwhile, other pro-life advocates seem pleased with Trump's position.

"I'm pleased to see that President Trump listened to pro-lifers and isn't going to allow a divisive late-term limit that some GOP insiders were been pushing, which would have embraced more than 9 in 10 abortions, to be a distraction from Joe Biden's abortion extremism," said Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins.

"However, to be clear, the Pro-Life Movement is united that abortion is a federal issue, and we won't stop working until every child, in every state, is protected in life by law and service. Your state lines should never mean the beginning or end of your human rights," she added. 

For months, Trump had not sent a clear message regarding his stance on a national abortion ban. 

Last month in a radio interview, Trump hinted toward supporting a ban at around 15 weeks of pregnancy. 

"The number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15. And I'm thinking in terms of that," he said on WABC radio. "And it'll come out to something that's very reasonable. But people are really, even hard-liners are agreeing, seems to be, 15 weeks seems to be a number that people are agreeing at."

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At the same time, he stopped short of embracing a federal ban. 

"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," he said.

And while Trump takes credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturned Roe V. Wade in June 2022, he now says that decision will give him "leverage" to strike a deal he hopes will "make both sides happy" and bring the country "together".

"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," he said. "At the end of the day, it's all about the will of the people."

In his announcement, Trump told Republicans to "follow your heart on this issue. But remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and, in fact, to save our country, which is currently and very sadly a nation in decline."

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