Donald Trump Attempts to Walk Back Abortion Stance After Taking Credit for Overturning “Roe v. Wade”

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Trump is scrambling,” Joe Biden responded after the former president's latest comments. “He's worried that since he's the one responsible for overturning Roe, the voters will hold him accountable in 2024"

<p>Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty</p> Donald Trump

Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty

Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump has seemingly changed his stance on a nationwide abortion ban.

In a video shared on Truth Social on April 8, the presidential candidate said that he is “proudly the person responsible” for the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, because it gave individual states the authority to decide how they approach abortion regulations.

Trump said that by overturning the landmark Supreme Court decision of 1973 — which granted women around the nation the right to an abortion — conservatives took abortion laws “out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people in each state."

“My view is now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both,” he said in the clip. “And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.”

Related: Biden Campaign Sees Florida as ‘Winnable’ After State’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Threatens Women in the Southeast

Trump went on to acknowledge that every state’s abortion laws “will be different."

“Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be,” he said. "At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith.”

"Do what's right for your family and do what's right for yourself. Do what's right for your children, do what's right for our country and vote,” he continued, adding that it is “so important to vote.”

With his new statement, Trump was able to passively endorse the most extreme state bans — like Florida's unpopular new six-week ban — while avoiding going on the record with his own abortion recommendations.

Polls have shown that most American voters want the federal government to pass laws that enshrine abortion access nationwide, with a March KFF poll determining that 55% support federal abortion protections, compared to 19% who support a federal abortion ban.

Related: Biden Lifts Trump-Era Ban That Stripped Federal Funding from Clinics Providing Abortion Services

<p>Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty</p> Donald Trump

Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty

Donald Trump

In the video, Trump did not disclose which week during a pregnancy he finds it appropriate to ban abortion, but he did say that he supports exceptions for "rape, incest and life of the mother."

He also did not clarify what he would do if Congress sent him a national abortion ban while he was president — though pro-choice voters have already expressed concerns that he would not opt to veto.

The former president also thanked Chief Justice John Roberts and the five Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade: Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett.

"Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” he stated.

<p>Sophie Park/Getty</p> President Joe Biden

Sophie Park/Getty

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden responded to Trump’s new comments in a statement released by his campaign, stating that Trump has “made it clear once again today that he is — more than anyone in America — the person responsible for ending Roe v. Wade.”

The statement also said that when Trump "ripped away Roe v. Wade, he ripped away a fundamental right for the women of America that the United States Supreme Court had affirmed and reaffirmed for 50 years."

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“As a fundamental right, it didn't matter where you lived. It was granted to you as an American, not as a resident of any state," Biden's statement said. "Generations of women had come to rely on that right. Now we're in the extraordinary position where women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. That has never happened before in America.”

“Trump is scrambling,” Biden added. “He's worried that since he's the one responsible for overturning Roe the voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will. America was built on personal freedom and liberty. So, there is nothing more un-American than having our personal freedoms taken away. And that is what Donald Trump has done.”

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