Donald Trump said some states that are restricting abortion rights are being “too tough” and those measures should be rolled back, as he sought to win over women skeptical about his approach to reproductive health care.
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“It’s going to be redone. They’re going to, you’re going to, you end up with a vote of the people,” Trump said at a Fox News-hosted town hall in Cumming, Georgia on Tuesday. “They’re too tough, too tough. And those are going to be redone because already there’s a movement in those states.”
The Republican nominee didn’t specify which states he was speaking about, but cited Ohio as an example of a GOP-led state that voted to expand abortion rights in a recent ballot measure.
Abortion access—and the federal government’s role in restricting the procedure—has become a major political liability for Trump, whose judicial nominees struck down abortion protections in 2022. Trump has sought to distance himself from the issue saying it’s no longer a federal matter and it’s for the states to decide.
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Trump has been on the defensive over abortion, both touting his role in appointing three of the justices who struck down federal protections for abortion to solidify his support among religious voters, while also seeking to neutralize the issue ahead of the general election by claiming he is a champion of reproductive rights.
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The former president’s home state, Florida, has a referendum on abortion on the ballot in November, which would broaden abortion rights, currently limited in the state to the first six weeks of a pregnancy. Trump said in August he would vote against that measure, even though he says that six weeks—before many women even know they’re pregnant—is too short of a window to allow women to access the procedure.
The former President has falsely said that Democrats support abortions immediately preceding, or directly following, the birth of a baby. There is no state that allows an “after-birth” abortion, and abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy are extremely rare.
Vice President Kamala Harris has cast state restrictions on abortion rights as “Trump abortion bans” and highlighted the death of a woman in battleground Georgia who was unable to obtain access to a legal abortion. Trump and Harris are both seeking to court suburban and independent women, with the candidates locked in a tight race with just three weeks until Election Day.
During his lone debate with Harris, Trump repeatedly deflected on whether he would veto a bill imposing a national ban on abortion, insisting the Supreme Court’s ruling had left the issue up to the states. But his messaging his been inconsistent, with Trump saying he is open to restricting access to a pill used in medical abortions while also vowing to mandate that the U.S. government or insurance companies cover the costs of in vitro fertilization.
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IVF treatments have become a campaign flash point with Democrats warning that rulings against abortion could impact the availability of fertility treatments.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of likely voters in swing states in September found 56% of voters trusted Harris more on abortion, while 32% said they trusted Trump—a gap that’s widened in recent months.
Several states are set to have abortion-related measures on the ballot on Election Day, including the swing states of Arizona and Nevada.