2 weeks Ago
Republican White House nominee Donald Trump sought Friday to contain the blast radius of a fierce backlash over his remarks publicly backing away from right-wing positions on reproductive rights. The ex-president has been under fire from conservatives over an announcement that in a second term he would ensure free in vitro fertilization (IVF) – an expensive fertility procedure that many in the anti-abortion movement want to see curbed. The rift widened as he hit out at his home state Florida's six-week abortion ban, calling it too restrictive and suggesting he planned to vote for an upcoming ballot measure that would make the procedure legal until a foetus becomes viable.
Trump, 78, walked back the comment ahead of a rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Friday, telling Fox News that "I will be voting no." But conservatives had already begun criticising Trump's ever-shifting positions on abortion, with a new Republican policy platform dropping calls for a national ban and the tycoon's recent claim that his government would be "great" for reproductive rights. The pushback from anti-abortion groups on his latest remarks was swift, with activists warning that he risks alienating his base.
Evangelical theologian Albert Mohler said Trump's positions appeared "almost calculated to alienate pro-life voters" while conservative commentator Erick Erickson posted that Trump's abortion stance "will be a bridge too far for too many." Trump's rally, in Johnstown, was notable for the absence of any remarks on reproductive rights, despite Thursday's big IVF announcement. The campaign of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was happy to weigh in on the issue, smelling blood in the water.
"The majority of Americans support abortion access, they support IVF, they support contraception," Mini Timmaraju, of the Reproductive Freedom for All lobby group, told reporters in a campaign call. "(Trump) has finally figured it out, and he'll do anything to distract from his abysmal, horrifying record on this issue." Trump has been all over the map on abortion in the last 15 years, initially describing himself as "pro-choice" before calling for "some form of punishment" for women seeking the procedure.
He boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who ended federal protections for abortion access in 2022 but has more recently begun to worry that Republicans are out of step with the majority of voters on reproductive rights. His IVF pledge appeared calculated to appeal to moderates but will upset conservatives who for years opposed Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act because they were against the redistributive economics of taxpayer-funded health insurance. Almost every Senate Republican voted against assuring IVF access in a vote in June – including Trump's running mate JD Vance – and more than half of the House Republican lawmakers have sponsored legislation that threatens its legality.
Republicans are divided on fertility treatments such as IVF, with many hailing them as a boost to American families..
