It was reported by the New York Times that Trump has privately said he supports a 16-week abortion ban and that he likes it because it’s an even number.
But Team Trump is pushing back on this calling it ‘fake news’.
Here’s the news below:
The Trump campaign is pushing back at a news story about former President Trump’s stance on abortion, but it did not contradict its main contention that Trump has privately indicated he supports the idea of a ban on abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy.
The New York Times reported Trump has told advisers and allies that he favors a 16-week ban on abortion that includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. Democrats immediately seized on the report as evidence Trump would push for a national abortion ban if he wins reelection.
In a subsequent statement, the Trump campaign did not directly address the former president’s reported comments, instead offering a vague statement saying Trump would “sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with.
“President Trump appointed strong Constitutionalist federal judges and Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the decision back to the states, which others have tried to do for over 50 years,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, which referred to the article as “fake news.”
She went on to attack President Biden and Democrats for supporting “radical on-demand” abortion, though Biden has explicitly said he does not want abortion on demand.
The Times reported that Trump has said in private he wants to wait until the end of the GOP primary to publicly share his views on an abortion ban in order to avoid alienating social conservatives who make up a healthy portion of the primary electorate.
Trump won the Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada primary contests, and he is leading in the polls elsewhere as he appears on track to become the party nominee.
Trump reportedly told one aide he likes the idea of a 16-week ban because “It’s even. It’s four months,” according to the report.
I actually think this is probably true considering how Trump has attacked states like Florida for passing heartbeat legislation. He clearly thinks it is too restrictive and he probably believes 16 weeks would be a good compromise area.
16 weeks would be far better for the country than having abortion all the way to birth in these blue states. But four months is almost half the pregnancy and an unborn baby at that age absolutely has a heartbeat and almost assuredly feels pain. I just can’t imagine a threshold like that as something a pro-life president would be happy with, especially from the outset.