Trump vs. Biden on abortion: What they've done as president — and what they plan to do next

It’s been clear ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 that abortion would be one of the key issues of the 2024 presidential campaign — but where do President Biden and former President Donald Trump stand? November’s election will be the first since 1892 to feature two presidents — one former, one current — competing as the major party nominees. As a result, this year’s candidates already have extensive White House records to compare and contrast. Yahoo News National Correspondent Andrew Romano presents a guide on how the candidates' stances changed over the years, what they’ve done as president and what they want to do next.

Video Transcript

ANDREW ROMANO: It's been clear ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022 that abortion was going to be one of the major issues in the 2024 election. But where do Trump and Biden stand on the issue?

President Biden is a lifelong Catholic who has said for years that he is personally opposed to abortion, but he's evolved with his party. And he eventually decided that Roe v Wade got it right.

He's also vowed to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which banned federal funding for abortion through programs like Medicaid. Trump has said in the past that he favors abortion rights, despite his personal discomfort with the issue.

But when he was running for president, he reversed his position and started describing himself as pro-life. When Trump became president, he got the opportunity to appoint three Supreme Court justices, and all three of them eventually voted to overturn Roe v Wade.

He also backed a federal abortion ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy and blocked organizations that provide abortion referrals such as Planned Parenthood from receiving federal money. After Joe Biden became president in 2021, he made good on his pledge and introduced a budget that would have dropped the Hyde Amendment, but centrist Democrats shot him down.

After Roe v Wade was overturned, in lieu of being able to pass any legislation through Congress, the Biden administration took a series of executive actions to expand access to abortion pills, defend emergency care, and to support patients' ability to travel across state lines for abortions.

Nodding to a series of election losses for Republicans, Trump has recognized politically that going too far on abortion could be risky. Yet, as he returns to the campaign trail, he's reportedly considering a 15-week federal abortion ban of his own as a compromise. But it would be significantly more restrictive than the status quo under Roe v Wade because it would apply to states that don't have abortion bans of their own right now.

As he runs for a second term, Biden has repeatedly emphasized the need to restore the protections of Roe v Wade in every state by passing legislation in Congress-- something that requires clear cut Democratic majorities. Short of that, a second Biden term would continue the federal protections put in place during his first term-- something that another president could easily overturn.