Former President Donald Trump has been trying to moderate his stance on abortion since his three Supreme Court appointments helped lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
He has favored a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy and said the issue should now be left up to the states, with many following through by enacting tighter restrictions or outright bans. He has criticized Florida's six-week abortion band and has come out in favor of in vitro fertilization.
The former president went a step further Friday in a Truth Social post when he wrote, "My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights."
The phrase "reproductive rights" is a rallying cry for Democrats and pro-choice activists angered by the Supreme Court's ruling in June 2022 that ended federal protections for the procedure.
Democrats used abortion to score big political victories in the 2022 midterm elections, and Trump has seen his support drop among women in various polls since Vice President Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the Democrat ticket.
His post could be a way of responding to Democrats' making abortion a central focus of their national convention this week in Chicago, with women telling personal stories about the dangers they faced being denied abortions after the high court's ruling.
During her speech accepting the Democrat nomination for president on Thursday night, Harris tried to frame Trump as a threat to abortion rights, saying he will appoint an "anti-abortion coordinator." Trump told Newsmax on Thursday night what Harris said was a "total lie."
"I never even heard the term," Trump said. "They keep talking about Project [20]25, which is a group of pretty far-right people who got together, they did something called Project 25. I have no idea what it is. I don't want to read it. I don't want to see it. I don't want to know anything about it. But they use that."
Trump has consistently said he does not favor a national abortion ban, even though such fear was stoked throughout the Democratic National Convention. In fact, the Trump-backed Republican platform unveiled at the party's national convention last month in Milwaukee struck out language of abortion bans in a major departure from previous platforms.
Newsmax reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on his Truth Social post.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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