By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - Ex-US President Donald Trump said on Monday that further abortion restrictions should be left to individual states, declining to endorse a federal ban on the medical procedure.
Trump issued a long-awaited statement on the matter via a four-and-a-half minute video he posted to his Truth Social social media platform, boasting of his role in the 2022 overturning of national abortion rights, which directly resulted from his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices.
The three justices tipped the top court into the decidedly conservative majority that ultimately voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that had enshrined abortion rights nationwide for nearly 50 years.
"Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights, especially since I was probably the person responsible for" ending Roe V. Wade, Trump said in the video.
"My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, to 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. Many states will be different," he added.
Trump did not say what he would do if he assumes the presidency and his Republican allies sent him legislation that would criminalize abortion nationally, as they have vowed to do. Trump has, in the past, hinted at support for a national ban, but his messaging has been extremely mixed on the matter.
His comments come amid consistent polling that shows the vast majority of Americans support legal access to abortion under most circumstances. Just 13% of the country supports criminalizing abortion in all cases, according to 2023 data from polling firm Gallup.
Nearly twice that number -- 34% -- think abortion should be legal in all cases while 51% approve of having legal abortion under certain circumstances.
US President Joe Biden's re-election campaign has sought to tie Trump to the most stringent abortion restrictions put in place since Roe v. Wade was struck down, and the president quickly issued a statement doing just that.
"Trump once said women must be punished for seeking reproductive health care – and he's gotten his wish. Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care," he said.
"Here's what Donald Trump doesn't understand: When he ripped away Roe v. Wade, he ripped away a fundamental right for the women of America that the United States Supreme Court had affirmed and reaffirmed for 50 years. As a fundamental right, it didn't matter where you lived. It was granted to you as an American," he added.