Former President Donald Trump stated that abortion has been “largely taken off the table” and that people are “very happy” about the end of Roe v. Wade during an interview with Walter Perez of WPVI 6ABC in Philadelphia. The interview was taped a day before a key Supreme Court hearing related to emergency abortion care.
Trump claimed that the issue of abortion has been resolved by returning the decision to individual states, implying that this has simplified the complexity surrounding the topic. He suggested that states are voting on the matter, with varied outcomes, and that the federal involvement has been removed, reflecting what people wanted. He emphasized that this shift had taken the issue out of the federal system, allowing states to make their own choices about abortion laws.
However, the end of Roe v. Wade has had significant ramifications, with many states placing abortion on their ballots this November, leading to increased restrictions and legal cases. The topic has become a heated political and social issue, with varying responses across the country.
WALTER PEREZ: The Biden camp seems focused a lot of its message around the abortion issue and the passage of the infrastructure deal. What is your counter message regarding those issues?
DONALD TRUMP: On the abortion thing, and it’s a very simple situation that has now been worked out. For 52 years they’ve been trying to get it back to the states. I was able to get it back to the states. Now all of the states are making their decision. Pennsylvania is making its decision. They’re all making their decision.
And this is what people have wanted. It’s taken the complexity out of it. It’s very simple. It’s now states. The people are voting. And they’re voting all over the country. Sometimes it’s conservative. Sometimes it’s not conservative. But the abortion issue is taken – has been really, largely taken off the table, because when we did this, we did what both sides, everybody, wanted.
Legal scholars want it. Everybody. They wanted to take abortion out of the federal system and put it into the states, and we were able to do that when we terminated Roe v. Wade.
Now, when you look at it and you look at what’s happening all over the country now, states are voting. Ohio just voted. All different, by the way. It’s tailor made, and it’s really working out well for people, and they’re very, very happy. Every legal scholar felt, and felt for a long time, for 53 years they’ve been trying to do it. It was wrong being in the federal government. Now it’s in the states. Your state’s going to vote. They’re all going to vote. And it’s really taken it largely out of play.
In response to Trump’s comments, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa released a statement, criticizing Trump’s views and pointing out the negative consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade. Moussa highlighted the cases where women face extreme situations due to restrictive abortion laws, including being denied emergency care, victims of child rape traveling out of state for healthcare, and the re-emergence of old laws that limit women’s rights.
