You are studying the Contemplate This article, which unpacks one main information story every day. Subscribe right here to get it delivered to your inbox, and hearken to extra from the Contemplate This podcast.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Photographs
1. Trump wasn’t all the time anti-abortion.
Trump will endlessly be generally known as the president who appointed the justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in June of 2022. However the former president hasn’t all the time been in opposition to abortion rights. In 1999, when he was contemplating a run for the White Home, Trump informed NBC’s Tim Russert on Meet the Press:
“I am very pro-choice. I hate the idea of abortion. I hate it, I hate all the things it stands for. I cringe when individuals debate the topic. However I nonetheless imagine in selection.”
By 2011, Trump had modified his place. As soon as once more he was contemplating a run for president, and Trump described himself as “pro-life” when chatting with the Conservative Political Motion Convention, or CPAC.
2. When he first ran for president, about half the nation supported a authorized proper to abortion.
However a key group of voters overwhelmingly opposed it – white evangelical Christians. Trump wanted their assist, and he was profitable: exit polling within the 2016 election confirmed practically two-thirds of Christian voters selected Trump.
Their candidate delivered. Trump appointed three Supreme Courtroom justices throughout his time period– which finally led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Some Republicans in Congress are pushing for a federal ban on abortion, with many within the Republican base pressuring Trump to voice his assist. Final week, Trump posted a video on Fact Social that supported leaving abortion entry as much as the states:
“My view is that now that we’ve abortion the place everyone needed it from a authorized standpoint. The states will decide by vote or laws or maybe each, and no matter they resolve have to be the regulation of the land, on this case the regulation of the state.”
By saying he’ll as an alternative depart the problem to the states – primarily the established order – Trump seems to be attempting to keep away from strengthening Democrats’ potential to rally their voters round abortion rights.
3. Now, an anti-abortion stance could possibly be a political legal responsibility.
Each time there’s been an abortion referendum since Dobbs, voters have favored abortion rights.
Supporting a nationwide abortion ban is a place that some Republicans like Chris Christie and Nikki Haley have stated was unwise or at the very least impractical.
This election yr, Trump’s place on abortion may affect whether or not he wins or loses the race. But when he is elected, anti-abortion activists will possible push Trump to make use of the ability of the manager department to limit abortion entry.
For sponsor-free episodes of Contemplate This, join Contemplate This+ through Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. E mail us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Megan Pratz.