What Trump’s abortion flip-flops reveal
In 2016, the BBC interviewed a Trump supporter who predicted, “He’s going to tell people what he’s going to do and he’s going to do it ... He’s not a politician.” Eight years later, despite Trump’s lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, those views persist. A majority of Republicans think Trump is honest, cares for them, stands for them on important issues and is a “man of faith.” 71 percent of Republicans who intend to vote for him believe he tells the truth, a higher percentage than the trust they have for family members and friends.
Trump’s abortion flip-flops, however, demonstrate that he is willing to say and do just about anything to get elected.
In 1999, when he was a Democrat, Trump declared that although he personally hated abortion, “I am strongly pro-choice.” Asked whether he would ban “partial-birth abortions” (rarely used procedures, performed late in pregnancies when a woman’s life is in danger or there’s an extreme fetal abnormality), Trump replied, “I am pro-choice in every respect, as far as it goes.” He also maintained he wanted abortion “removed from politics. I believe it is a personal decision that should be left to the women and their doctors.”
A year later, in his book “The America We Deserve,” Trump asserted, “I support a woman’s right to choose, but I am uncomfortable with the procedures.”
In 2011, as he contemplated a run for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump told attendees of CPAC that he was pro-life. His position had “evolved,” he subsequently explained, when friends of his decided not to abort a pregnancy and the child turned out to be “a total superstar.”
In 2015, Trump said he would permit abortion if the life of the mother was in danger, but not if she had “a cold.”
In March 2016, during the GOP primaries, Chris Matthews asked Trump if he supported criminal penalties for women who had abortions. “I would say it’s a serious problem,” Trump replied, “and it’s a problem we have to decide on. Are you going to send them to jail?” But “there has to be some form of punishment for the woman.” When Matthews pressed him on what the punishment should be, Trump acknowledged he took positions “on everything else,” but said, “That I don’t know.”
A few hours later, he walked it back. The doctor, not the woman, he maintained, should be legally responsible: “The woman is a victim in the case, as is the life in the womb.”
In October 2016, during a debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump denounced partial-term abortions: “you can rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month or the final day. And that’s not acceptable.”
As president, Trump signed a memorandum blocking federal government funding for organizations providing abortion services, including counseling.
Following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, Trump bragged that his appointments justified his “proud” claim of responsibility for overturning Roe v. Wade. He has also falsely asserted that “all legal scholars, both sides, wanted and in fact demanded” the end of Roe, and that Democrats want “babies executed after birth.”
Since then, however, the political landscape has changed. More than 60 percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. An even larger percentage favor federal legislation granting women a right to abortion. Pro-choice candidates and referendums were successful in red and blue states at the polls.
And so Trump no longer treats protecting unborn babies as a moral imperative. “It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the midterms,” he insisted. “It was the abortion issue, poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly resisted exceptions.” And Florida’s six-week ban “is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” Trump didn’t know what Gov. Ron DeSantis, then his opponent for the GOP nomination, “really believes because you never know with a politician.”
That said, he emphasized that “we have to win elections,” refused to specify a time frame for abortion restrictions, but promised he’d “sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years.”
A couple of months ago, Trump privately expressed support for a nationwide abortion ban at 16 weeks. As one critic put it, the former president made abortion sound like a real estate transaction, telling associates he liked 16 because it was an even number, “it’s four months.” He didn’t mention that nearly 94 percent of abortions take place before pregnancies reach 13 weeks.
In March, Trump announced “the number of weeks now, people are agreeing on is 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable.”
This month, Trump declared that he would veto any federal ban on abortion. Any and all restrictions should be left to the states: “Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks, or some will be more conservative than others and that’s what they will be.” He predicted that the near-total Arizona ban, passed in 1864, “would be straightened out” and Florida’s six-week ban “was probably, maybe going to change.”
Trump praised state autonomy on abortions as “a perfect system” — even if, he implied, some states allowed no exceptions for rape, incest or to save the life of the mother and mandated criminal penalties for women and abortion providers. Deeply disappointed for different reasons, anti-abortion activists reminded the former president that “state lines should never mean the beginning or end of human rights.”
Trump’s self-serving, politically expedient abortion flip-flops provide an invitation to learn from the proverb “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American History at Cornell University.
Date: | |
Tag: | Abortion |
Topics
Filter
-
Year after flip flop, NBC's Eddie Olczyk hopes he feels better about his Kentucky Derby pick
Last year at the Kentucky Derby, Eddie Olczyk did what every horse racing fan and handicapper has done at one point — he changed his pick and ended up regretting itABC News - Sports -
Year after flip flop, NBC's Eddie Olczyk hopes he feels better about his Kentucky Derby pick
Last year at the Kentucky Derby, Eddie Olczyk did what every horse racing fan and handicapper has done at one point — he changed his pick and ended up regretting itABC News - Entertainment -
Tears on the stand and Trump's hands in everything: Here's what you missed on Day 11 of Trump's hush money trial
In bombshell testimony Friday, Hope Hicks relayed cascading concerns inside Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign as a lewd tape and allegations that he had had affairs with a Playboy model and a porn star emerged in the waning days of the ...NBC News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
‘We must not stop’: potential Trump VP Ben Carson touts national abortion ban
In new book, retired neurosurgeon and former housing secretary emphasises extreme stance at odds even with Trump himself. In a new book, the retired neurosurgeon, former US housing secretary and potential Trump vice-presidential pick Ben Carson ...The Guardian - World - Donald Trump -
How a single rogue elector could flip the presidential election
The Electoral College is not the faceless “race to 270” that cable news portrays it to be.The Hill - Politics -
What's News: Business & Finance
What’s News: Business & FinanceThe Wall Street Journal - World -
The Lakers did what we all saw coming — so now what?
Perhaps it was the right time to let go of Darvin Ham. But who looks at this Lakers roster and believes it can truly compete for an NBA championship?Yahoo Sports - Sports -
What Will Warren Buffett Bet on Next?
Berkshire Hathaway shareholders will gather in Omaha for the conglomerate’s annual meeting on Saturday, with questions about the company’s future.The New York Times - Business - Warren Buffett -
What's Become Of Batman Games? | Spot On
With the announcement of a new Batman VR game this week, Tam and Lucy lament the fact that there's no new Rocksteady Batman on the horizon, and wonder if WB has squandered the Bat.GameSpot - Tech -
What's Going On With Batman Games? | Spot On
It's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade since Rocksteady Studios concluded its Arkham trilogy with Batman: Arkham Knight. And yet, it's somehow even harder to believe that same studio released Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League just a ...GameSpot - Tech
More from The Hill
-
California man charged with threatening Fulton County DA Fani Willis
A California man has been indicted by an Atlanta grand jury on charges of threatening Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D), according to a Friday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Marc ...The Hill - Politics - California -
Fox anchor pushes back on Mace's claim of George Soros funding student protests
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto pushed back on a claim by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) that progressive billionaire George Soros has funded groups involved in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. “There's a push right now on the part of some of ...The Hill - Politics -
University of Vermont cancels UN ambassador's address amid Gaza protests
The University of Vermont (UVM) has canceled United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield's commencement speech amid pro-Palestinian protests on campus as protests sweep colleges across the nation. “We are looking forward to the upcoming ...The Hill - Politics - United Nations -
George Conway: Hope Hicks 'absolutely' corroborates Cohen story on Trump
Conservative lawyer George Conway said former Trump aide Hope Hicks’ testimony at former President Trump's hush money trial “absolutely” corroborates his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen’s story about Trump in the case. “She put in Donald Trump's mouth, ...The Hill - Politics - Donald Trump -
Underwood to immediately replace Cuellar in prominent funding role after indictment
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) is set to become top Democrat on the House subcommittee that crafts Homeland Security Department (DHS) funding, replacing Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) shortly after he was indicted on bribery charges. Aides confirmed ...The Hill - Politics