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Donald Trump has said he believes abortion laws should be left to individual states to decide on – before falsely claiming Democrats support the “execution” of babies after their birth.
The former president, who is seeking a return to the White House in this November’s US election, declared his stance as he declined to endorse a national abortion ban.
In the video, posted on his Truth Social site on Monday, Mr Trump said: “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both.”
He again took credit for the US Supreme Court’s decision to end Roe v Wade, saying he was “proudly the person responsible for the ending” of the constitutional right to an abortion.
Mr Trump repeated his support for three exceptions when it comes to abortion law – cases of rape, incest, and when a mother’s life is at risk – and said of the current legal landscape in the US: “Many states will be different.
“Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be. At the end of the day, it’s all about will of the people.”
He went on to falsely claim that Democrats supported abortion “up to and even beyond the ninth month” – suggesting this included the “execution” of babies after birth.
President Joe Biden and his campaign want to restore the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which established a constitutional right to an abortion until around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy, but which was upended by the Supreme Court in June 2022.
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Since it was overturned, Republican-led states have ushered in strict laws with nearly two dozen passing near-total abortion bans.
Mr Biden’s campaign swiftly responded to Mr Trump’s video and said the Republican was “endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions.”
Campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said: “He’s bragging about his role in creating this hellscape.”
Read more:
What’s changed since Roe v Wade was overturned
Woman flees Texas ‘for healthcare’ after court blocks abortion
Biden’s campaign has responded to Mr Trump’s comments. Pic: Reuters
Abortion is one of the most contentious issues in US politics, but polling has consistently shown most Americans believe it should be legal through the initial stages of pregnancy.
Almost half of adults in the States said abortions should be permitted at the 15-week mark, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found in June last year.
Mr Trump’s video comes after he suggested last month that he was leaning towards supporting a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, though at the same time, he appeared reluctant to endorse a federal ban.
He has previously criticised some fellow Republicans for being too hard-line on the issue and said some of them “do not know how to discuss this topic”.
“We had a lot of election losses because of this,” he claimed.
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