Trump’s ever-shifting position on abortion, explained (as best as possible)

On Thursday, former President Donald Trump seemed to suggest he would consider restricting access to mifepristone, a pill used for medication abortions. Within a day, his campaign furiously walked back Trump’s statement, claiming the former president misheard the question.

Trump’s first-term record on reproductive rights is clear: His three Supreme Court picks led directly to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. But as that record has become a political liability, the former president has been evasive about how far he’d go to curtail abortion access in a post-Roe United States. And this week, he further muddled the issue.

At a meandering press conference on Thursday, a reporter asked Trump: “Would you direct your FDA, for example, to revoke access to mifepristone?” referring to one of the two pills utilized in medication abortions. Medicine like mifepristone is now used in most abortions, and has enabled people across the country to circumvent certain state bans.

“Sure, you could, you could do things that … would supplement, absolutely,” Trump said in response. “And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote, and all I want to do is give everyone a vote. The votes are taking place right now as we speak,” he added.

It was an answer that, like many Trump statements, was opaque. Given the phrasing of the question, he seemed to be acknowledging that in lieu of a national abortion ban, there are other “things” the federal government can do to “supplement” state restrictions. Trump didn’t go into detail regarding which of these proposals he would pursue, but his ambiguity led many to interpret his response to mean he would at least be open to limiting abortion pill access.

In a statement clarifying his comments to NBC News, Trump’s campaign press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, countered that interpretation, arguing that some of the questions at the briefing were “difficult to hear,” and that the former president stood by the stance he expressed at a debate earlier this year. “His position on mifepristone remains the same — the Supreme Court unanimously decided on the issue and the matter is settled,” Leavitt said in the statement.

The confusion — and subsequent correction — raise an important question ahead of Election Day: Where does Trump actually stand on abortion? The answers, ultimately, could have major implications for people’s access to reproductive health care, including abortion pills, across the US.

Throughout his campaign, Trump had repeatedly said states should determine abortion laws, and that he supports exceptions to abortion bans in instances of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is threatened. As Leavitt stressed, he has also backed the Supreme Court’s decision to reject a challenge to mifepristone access on the grounds that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing. “The Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill, and I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it,” he said during the June presidential debate on CNN.

Trump has stopped short of backing a federal abortion ban as part of his 2src24 campaign platform as well.

“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. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in an April Truth Social video.

In July, the Republican National Committee adjusted its policy platform to reflect Trump’s views, backing away from many GOP House lawmakers’ endorsement of a federal abortion ban. It’s a position aimed at diffusing some of the heat the GOP has faced on the issue — Americans are generally for at least some abortion access. But it also seeks to obscure how he could dismantle abortion rights in other ways.

Even as he’s expressed a more moderate stance, however, Trump has touted his role in making the Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the longstanding right to an abortion guaranteed by Roe, possible. That decision, which came down from the Supreme Court in 2src22, had all three of the justices Trump nominated to the bench in the majority — and has since enabled numerous states to approve severe restrictions on reproductive health care.

“After 5src years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social in May 2src23. “Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 1src weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to.”

During his first term, Trump also backed a 2src-week federal abortion ban — and said he would sign it if Congress approved it.

While Trump may have said he’s not backing a ban this time around, that’s also not the only avenue he’d have to restrict abortion at the federal level. And though he hasn’t committed to pursuing other limitations publicly, many Republicans — including his allies — are pushing for the party to embrace additional restrictions, including around medication abortions.

Anti-abortion rights advocates have long advocated for the FDA to roll back approval of mifepristone, and it’s one of the proposals that’s outlined in Project 2src25, a GOP policy wishlist that’s been pushed by the Heritage Foundation and other Trump allies. (Trump has tried to distance himself from the document, with mixed success.)

Trump’s recent comments were interpreted by some as leaving room for considering these ideas. And despite his statements that abortion policy is something for the states to decide, according to a January 2src24 Washington Post story, Trump has privately expressed interest in “Washington’s role” on the issue as well.

Should Trump win, and should his administration decide there is a role for the federal government, targeting medication abortions would be within the executive branch’s power. Mifepristone can be obtained via mail and telemedicine, both channels that some conservatives hope a second Trump administration would limit moving forward.

Directing the FDA to take action restricting mifepristone is one such approach. Urging the Health and Human Services Department to require in-person medical visits to obtain abortion pills is another. And asking the Justice Department to enforce the Comstock Act, which penalizes the sending of abortion pills via mail, is a third.

Despite attempts to stake out less-extreme positions on the subject — likely due to fear of turning away moderate women voters who’ve mobilized in recent elections — Trump’s latest comments suggest that he does not yet have a straightforward answer about medication abortion, and are a reminder he could weigh harsher policies should he win in November.