Trump Makes Horrifying Pledge to Cut Access to Contraception
During an interview with KDKA News in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Donald Trump praised himself for overturning Roe v. Wade and suggested abortion isn’t the only thing on the chopping block.
Asked whether he’d outlaw birth control or Plan B, Trump responded, “We’re looking at that” and said his campaign plans to release his full policy proposal in a week. “I think it’s something you’ll find interesting.… You will find it, I think, smart. I think it’s a smart decision.”
Pressed further, Trump indicated his general policy will be to allow states to do whatever they want to restrict bodily autonomy around abortion.
“Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others,” Trump told KDKA.
KDKA didn’t ask Trump his position on mifepristone and misoprostol—medications used to terminate early pregnancy and miscarriages—but Trump touted the overturning of Roe as an accomplishment brought forth by his administration.
“We did something that everybody wanted,” he said. “We got rid of Roe v. Wade.” Polling data from Pew Research Center in July 2022 found a majority of Americans supported Roe and were angered by the Supreme Court’s overturning of the landmark decision.
Trump skirted questions about whether he would sign a national 15-week abortion ban, much like he has in past interviews. The measure is incredibly popular with his ultraconservative supporters, but Trump has generally argued in favor of a “winning” position. “We must win,” he said. “We have to win.”
Trump’s stance on abortion has shifted wildly over the years, swinging from “very pro-choice” in 1999 to “pro-life” in 2011 when Trump first mused on running for president. In 2016, Trump said people should “be punished” for having abortions. He later dropped this talking point as people reasonably interpreted his statement to endorse prison time for abortion-seekers, a policy that has since been enacted in multiple states.