Former President Donald Trump insists that overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court abortion-rights ruling, was only about “states’ rights.”
The 1973 decision found that abortion was a constitutional right and ensured legal access to the procedure nationally for 49 years before being upended in 2022 by the court’s conservative majority, which includes several Trump-appointed justices.
While Trump was once both a Democrat who was openly in favor of abortion rights, he dramatically changed his stance after becoming a Republican and launching his political career. Trump has since repeatedly taken credit for Roe being overturned.
However, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is seemingly attempting to change his position once again as the November election approaches, disappointing a number of conservatives on Tuesday by announcing that he will not support a federal abortion ban.
Megan Varner
In a video posted to Truth Social on Wednesday night, Trump claimed that Roe was strictly about “states’ rights” and not “anything else.” He also incorrectly stated that “every legal scholar” was in favor of overturning the decision.
“People forget fighting Roe v. Wade was, right from the beginning, all about bringing the issue back to the states,” Trump says in the video. “It wasn’t about anything else … Every legal scholar, everybody from both sides, said you’ve got to get it out of the federal government, you have to bring it back to the states.”
“It wasn’t about anything else,” he continues. “The Democrats will never give up on this issue, no matter how many Republicans … are willing to give everything. You could give unlimited abortion, and the Democrats would find a reason not to do it, because they don’t love our country.”
Trump goes on to say that Democrats “don’t want to solve a very difficult problem,” before suggesting that his “states’ rights” stance is the solution that sets Republicans “free to run” on other issues.
“But we did [solve it], it’s called states’ rights,” Trump concludes. “Republicans are now free to run for office based on the horrible border, inflation, bad economy, the death and destruction of our country.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office and the Republican National Committee (RNC) via email on Wednesday night.
As recently as last year, Trump was enthusiastically painting himself as a hero of the “pro-life” movement, touting his value to abortion opponents at rallies and in multiple Truth Social posts.
“After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone,” Trump wrote in May. “Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks [bans], or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing.”
Political experts have suggested that support for restrictive anti-abortion laws may be a major liability for Republicans in November, especially as the issue may appear on the ballot in several swing states and could potentially inspire massive turnout by Democratic voters.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an archaic law mandating a near-total ban on abortion was still legally enforceable. Despite concerns about the political implications, Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday blocked a Democratic bill that would have repealed the law.
“As you know, it’s all about states’ rights,” Trump told reporters after agreeing that Arizona had gone “too far” by reviving the law. “It’ll be straightened out. I’m sure that the governor and everybody else are going bring it back to within reason. And that will be taken care of, I think, very quickly … It’s a perfect system.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.