April 8 (UPI) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shared his updated stance on abortion rights on social media Monday, saying its legality should remain with the states.
The former president had been tight-lipped about his abortion stance for more than a year on the campaign trail. His former vice president, Mike Pence, said Trump blamed Republican midterm election losses on Roe vs. Wade being overturned.
In a video message on Truth Social, Trump took sole credit Monday for the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade.
“I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of something that all legal scholars, both sides, wanted, and in fact demanded, be ended: Roe vs. Wade,” 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, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case the law of the state.”
Trump notes that some states will have “more conservative” abortion laws than others.
On Sunday, Trump announced on Truth Social that his abortion stance was forthcoming. In that post he said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
Trump also shared a false claim that Democrats support abortion up to and beyond nine months of pregnancy, including “execution after birth.”
Pence was again critical of Trump’s abortion stance Monday, calling it a “retreat on the right to life.”
“President Trump’s retreat on the right to life is a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020,” Pence wrote on X. “Too many Republican politicians are all too ready to wash their hands of the battle for life.”
President Joe Biden shared skepticism over Trump’s newfound stance in a statement emailed by his campaign.
“Trump is simply lying,” Biden said. “There was no groundswell of support in America for overturning Roe. Trump is scrambling. He’s worried that since he’s the one responsible for overturning Roe the voters will hold him accountable in 2024.”
During his 2016 campaign, Trump ran on a more hard-nosed abortion stance, saying at one point that he believed women should be punished for having abortions where it is illegal.
“The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. Yeah, there has to be some form,” Trump told MSNBC host Chris Matthews during an interview.
Trump later walked back the comment, saying a woman should not be held legally responsible. He also added that he supports exceptions.
“If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal, and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” Trump said in a statement.
