Trump Says He Is 'Looking At' Restricting Contraception Access — Then Backtracks
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Former President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out backing restrictions on contraception, and suggested Tuesday that limiting access to the morning-after pill should be left up to individual states.
Still, the former president mostly dodged the issue when pressed by an anchor for Pittsburgh’s KDKA News, teasing the release of a “very comprehensive policy” in “a week or so” to address contraception, which includes various forms of birth control.
“We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly. I think it’s something you’ll find interesting,” Trump told the anchor.
When asked specifically about the morning-after pill — a type of emergency contraception, which does not cause abortion — Trump said the issue should be up to the states, echoing what he’s said previously about abortion access.
“You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others,” Trump said in a video of the interview shared with HuffPost.
Trump hasn’t delivered a clear message on abortion beyond saying it’s a state issue and that he wouldn’t support a national abortion ban. He has previously responded to questions about reproductive health care access by saying his campaign will reveal his position later.
The former president’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about his stance on contraception.
In an April interview with Time Magazine, Trump teased an announcement about his views on mifepristone, one of the two drugs that constitute what’s commonly called the abortion pill. The drug is currently at the center of a Supreme Court case that could further erode abortion access. Trump, however, hasn’t yet made that announcement, nor was he asked about it during the interview Tuesday.
Project 2025, the policy plan drafted by a group of conservative policy organizations aligned with Trump, suggests that he revive an 1873 anti-obscenity law that bans using the mail for anything “intended for producing abortion.” That law hasn’t been enforced for decades.
The Biden campaign was first to blast out a clip from the Pittsburgh interview. It followed up with a statement that shows how critical the issue will be to the president’s 2024 reelection bid. In the last two election cycles, Democrats managed to beat Republicans in tough races by embracing a focus on abortion rights.
“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,” said Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. “It’s not enough for Trump that women’s lives are being put at risk, doctors are being threatened with jail time, and extreme bans are being enacted with no exceptions for rape or incest. He wants to rip away our freedom to access birth control too.”
Trump was also asked in the interview whether he would veto a 15-week national abortion ban from Congress, but said he didn’t think Congress would get to that point. “It’s up to a whole group of people beyond Congress,” he said.
In a follow-up post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, in all capital letters, “I do not support a ban on birth control, and neither will the Republican party.”
