Trump says he wants to let American states legislate on abortion

Photo: Rebecca Blackwell Associated Press As a candidate again in November against Joe Biden, Donald Trump himself prides himself on having, through his appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, resulted in the reversal of jurisprudence of June 2022 which canceled the federal guarantee of the right to abortion.

France Media Agency in Washington

8:25

• United States

Donald Trump said Monday that he wanted to give American states free rein to legislate on abortion, appearing to reject a nationwide ban on this issue, at the heart of the presidential campaign.

“The States shall determine by vote or by law, or perhaps both. Whatever their decision, it must be law,” the former Republican president said in a video posted on his Truth Social platform.

A new candidate in November against Joe Biden, he himself prides himself on having, through his appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, resulted in the reversal of jurisprudence of June 2022 which annulled the federal guarantee of the right to abortion.

Since this decision giving states full latitude to legislate in this area, around twenty have banned or severely restricted access to abortion.

“Many [states] will have a different number of weeks” as the pregnancy limit for an abortion, Donald Trump explained in his video on Monday. “Some will be more conservative than others, and that’s how it is. At the end of the day, it’s the will of the people that counts,” he says.

The Republican also accused Democrats of being in favor of abortion into the final months of pregnancy, and “even execution after birth.” An unfounded assertion.

In March, Donald Trump first indicated that he could support a national ban beyond 15 or 16 weeks.

Referendums

But he also felt that it was not up to the federal administration to decide on these questions, warning against the electoral cost of an overly conservative position on this eminently sensitive subject.

Since the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, the conservatives have lost every referendum or vote addressing the issue of abortion.

This, even in states that are usually theirs, like Ohio or Kansas.

The Democrats, for their part, are capitalizing on this hot topic, well aware that the issue has made them a winning machine — at least in local elections.

Joe Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, regularly travels to American campuses in the most contested states in the election to discuss the subject.

“Across the country, extremists are attacking women’s access to health care and reproductive rights,” she again denounced at the end of March in North Carolina, urging Americans to support Joe Biden on November 5 to protect access to abortion.

In mid-March, she became the first sitting vice president to visit an abortion clinic in Minnesota.

Across the country, Democrats also encouraged the organization of mini-referendums on abortion in several decisive presidential states — Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania — on the same day that the election which will pit Donald Trump against Joe Biden.