Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in New York. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)
Former president Donald Trump said he was looking at the possibility of restricting access to birth control, but also alluded to a state-by-state approach to limiting contraception access.
In a television appearance on Tuesday, former president Donald Trump said he was “looking at” the possibility of restricting access to contraception and that he would “have a policy on that very shortly.”
Trump also suggested to reporter Jon Delano of Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA that he would support the right of individual US states to limit access to birth control.
“You know, things really have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others,” Trump told Delano on Tuesday. “But I am coming out, within a week or so, with a very comprehensive policy, which I’ll get to you immediately.”
Later in the day, after news outlets reported on his remarks to Delano, Trump took to social media to backtrack on his statement, writing “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives” on his Truth Social platform.
During his KDKA appearance, Trump doubled down on statements he made during an interview with Time Magazine last month in which he implied that he’d leave many decisions about abortion rights and reproductive healthcare up to individual states—even going so far as to suggest that he’d allow state officials to monitor pregnancies and criminally prosecute patients or providers in states with strict abortion regulations.
In the same Time interview, Trump also took credit for helping overturn the landmark abortion rights ruling, Roe v. Wade, which protected the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.
The Biden campaign was quick to denounce Trump’s allusions to a potential policy limiting birth control access on Tuesday. In a statement, campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chifika said, “Women across the country are already suffering from Donald Trump’s post-Roe nightmare, and if he wins a second term, it’s clear he wants to go even further by restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives.”
In his Truth Social statement, Trump called the idea that he would ultimately support birth control restrictions “a Democrat fabricated lie,” writing that his opponents have “nothing else to run on except FAILURE, POVERTY, AND DEATH. I DO NOT SUPPORT A BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL, AND NEITHER WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!”
It’s unclear if or when Trump will release his promised comprehensive policy regarding contraception.
In his interview with Time, Trump said he’d have an announcement regarding his campaign’s stance on the abortion pill mifepristone “over the next week or two.” The interview took place on April 27, but an official Trump announcement on mifepristone has yet to be released.
