Melania Trump says she supports abortion rights, breaking with her husband | US Election News 2024

Melania Trump, the wife of former US President Donald Trump, said there was “no room for compromise” on a woman’s right to have an abortion – a stance in stark contradiction to that of her husband .

“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I defend,” the former first lady said in a video posted Thursday on social media.

“Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to that essential right that all women possess from birth, individual liberty. What does “my body, my choice” really mean?

His comments appear to mark a significant divergence from Donald Trump’s public position.

The former president campaigned on his role in overturning Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision that previously established a constitutional right to access to abortion.

Campaign on abortion restrictions

Although the 78-year-old ex-president has frequently changed his position on abortion over the years, he currently favors leaving the decision up to each state.

“My view is that now we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine it by vote or legislation, or maybe both,” Trump said in April.

“And whatever they decide, it must be the law of the land. In this case, state law.

Trump also took credit for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022. The decision ended more than 50 years of federal protection against abortion.

“I did a great service by doing it,” Trump said during the Sept. 10 presidential debate, referring to his role in the court’s decision. “It took courage to do it. And the Supreme Court had a lot of courage to do it.”

“A slap in the face for millions of pro-life Americans”

Melania Trump has been more reserved about expressing her political views in public, rarely expressing her opinion on hot-button issues, especially during the current 2024 election season.

But Thursday’s video appeared to be part of promotion for her new self-titled memoir, Melania, which is due out next week.

On Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper published some preliminary extracts. In one part, Melania Trump writes: “A woman’s fundamental right to individual liberty, to her own life, gives her the power to terminate her pregnancy if she chooses. »

The newspaper specifies that she also defended certain abortions carried out late in pregnancy, most of the time out of medical necessity or to save the mother’s life.

Her comments risk sparking further divisions within the Republican Party, where dissenting voices have been raised against her husband’s ambiguous position on access to abortion.

In March, for example, Donald Trump made comments suggesting he would support a nationwide ban. “Maybe we can bring the country together on this issue,” he said on a morning radio show.

But when he reversed course in April, rejecting any potential federal ban, there was a backlash from evangelicals and hard-line conservatives, including his former vice president, Mike Pence.

Pence called Trump’s position a “slap in the face” to “the millions of pro-life Americans” who voted for him in 2016 and 2020.

In June, under Trump’s leadership, the Republican Party also approved a platform document that offered no explicit support for a national ban on abortion — a break from recent tradition.

It also sparked an outcry among some in the Republican base, who feared it reflected a weakened commitment to implementing abortion restrictions.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance said two years ago he supported the nationwide ban

Political experts have long viewed abortion as a winning issue for Democrats, who largely support greater access to reproductive health care.

When the Democratic Party did better than expected in the 2022 midterm elections, critics attributed the results to public anger over the Supreme Court’s decision to end federal abortion protections.

Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center confirmed that even two years later, a majority of Americans supported the option of abortion in almost all cases. Nearly six in ten respondents said abortion should be legal.

During this year’s presidential campaign, Trump sought to win over female voters — and some experts say he may downplay abortion as an election issue as a result.

During this week’s vice presidential debate, for example, Trump’s running mate JD Vance sought to present a moderate stance on the issue, focusing on a “pro-family” platform and expressing his sympathy for those considering abortion.

However, he has previously said he would support a national ban on abortion. “I would certainly like to see abortion be illegal nationwide,” Vance said in January 2022 while running for Senate.

As the debate between Vance and Democrat Tim Walz unfolded, Trump reiterated on his social media platform Truth Social that he would not support a nationwide ban.