United States: Donald Trump in favor of restricting abortion beyond a certain number of weeks

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: TAKAYUKI FUCHIGAMI / YOMIURI / THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN VIA AFP 9:42 p.m., March 17, 2024

Donald Trump, Republican candidate for the American election, said he was in favor of a national ban on abortion beyond a certain number of weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to life of the mother, in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

The ex-president spoke in an interview with Fox News this week, a few days after securing the Republican nomination, at the same time as outgoing President Joe Biden for the Democratic camp.

Donald Trump recognizes the electoral risk of an overly conservative position

Asked about a New York Times article in February reporting discussions with his campaign team on a proposal to ban abortion beyond 16 weeks of pregnancy, except in these three cases, the former president reaffirmed his satisfaction that his appointments to the Supreme Court allowed the reversal of jurisprudence of June 2022, which abolished the federal guarantee of this right.

While Joe Biden has made the protection of the right to abortion, threatened in the event of a Republican victory, one of his campaign axes, Donald Trump has recognized the electoral risk of an overly conservative position on this subject. 

“I think we need all three exceptions, even if there are a few places where they don't exist,” he said on Fox News, with states now having complete freedom to legislate in this area.

"I tell people, 'First and foremost, you have to follow what your heart tells you. But beyond that, you have to get elected.' And without those three exceptions, I think it's very, very, difficult to get elected," he explained, citing the case of the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania (northeast) in 2022.

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“You must allow exceptions,” insisted Donald Trump without specifying after how many months he planned to make abortion illegal, but arguing that such a limit existed elsewhere in the world, notably “in France or in different countries in Europe.

“I will present a recommendation very soon and I think that this recommendation will be accepted” by the party authorities, he added.

In every local referendum addressing the issue of abortion since the Supreme Court ruling, conservatives have lost, even in states that are usually theirs, such as Ohio or Kansas.

Donald Trump's former vice-president, Mike Pence, who announced this week that he would not support him for the November election, accusing him of having departed from the "conservative project", also deplored on Sunday that he did not take a stronger stance on abortion during the 2020 campaign. “I would like our candidate to approve a ban at least from 15 weeks,” he said on CBS .