President Biden’s reelection campaign and reproductive rights groups bashed former President Trump for raising the idea of a 15-week abortion ban.
“More and more I’m hearing about 15 weeks. I haven’t decided yet,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday. Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, has repeatedly dodged questions when asked whether he would sign a national abortion ban if reelected.
In a statement first shared with The Hill, the Biden campaign said Friday that Trump has offered “a horrifying preview” on what a second term would look like.
“In his own words Donald Trump confirmed what we already knew: He wants a national abortion ban. When Donald Trump repealed Roe, he allowed states to ban abortion, attack birth control, and restrict fertility treatments women depend on,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said.
“Because of Trump, millions of women can’t access the critical health care they need — a horrifying preview of what he and his extreme allies would inflict on Americans in every state if he gains power again. The only candidates who women can trust to protect a women’s right to choose are President Biden and Vice President Harris,” she added.
Reproductive rights groups also seized on the former president’s remarks.
Planned Parenthood argued Trump’s comments should be a warning to Americans, in a statement first shared with The Hill.
“Donald Trump has been nothing short of a disaster for women and reproductive freedom. While Trump noodles on when to cut off access to essential abortion care, the vast majority of people are already clear on what we want — and that’s politicians staying out of our personal medical decisions,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
EMILY’s List interim president Jessica Mackler said “a vote for Donald Trump is a vote for a national abortion ban” and Reproductive Freedom for All president and CEO Mini Timmaraju said Trump is “done pretending to be anything but an anti-abortion extremist.”
“What he is saying now is directly in line with who he has always been: the reason Roe was overturned, the reason tens of millions of American families are suffering the horrific consequences of abortion bans, and an urgent threat to our rights, our communities, and our freedom,” Timmaraju added.
Trump has reportedly indicated that he likes the idea of a 16-week ban that includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. The former president has taken credit for the end of Roe v. Wade because he appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices. He also has blamed Republicans’ messaging on abortion for their election struggles in the 2022 midterms.