8 years agoDuring his presidential run in 2016, Donald Trump said that women who have abortions should be criminally punished. At the time, President Trump said, “There has to be some form of punishment.” The comments caused a firestorm and his campaign retracted them within hours. This was one of the few instances in which Trump retracted.
But now that he is running for president again, Trump and the anti-abortion movement that supports him now feel free-wheeling. in an interview hour Posted on Tuesday, The former president said he would not stop states from prosecuting women who have abortions. “It doesn’t matter if I’m comfortable or not,” he said. hourThis is Eric Cortelesa. “It’s completely irrelevant because the state will make those decisions.” President Trump also said he would not interfere with states that decide to monitor pregnant women and would not collect information that could aid in such prosecutions. This is a horrifying vision of a future state spying on women when a second Trump presidency is elected.
A lot has changed since 2016. Trump feels liberated not only from traditional checks on presidential power but also from what is considered politically acceptable. As a result, his boundary expansion became more extreme. The anti-abortion movement is also embracing the extreme positions it previously pledged to take. Roe vs. WadeOverturned. Today, with a friendly Supreme Court, the movement is pushing for an extreme abortion ban that puts women’s lives at risk. In a sign of how far the anti-abortion movement will go, state bills are emerging that would authorize murder charges against women who have abortions. Moreover, the idea of fetus depersonalization, which is accelerating in many states, would provide prosecutors with a legal basis to prosecute women who have abortions even when medically necessary. As Trump made clear: hourUnder his leadership, the federal government will not attempt to stop any of this.
Officially, Trump has been split on whether he will sign a nationwide abortion ban. hour, he averted the danger by saying that the person would never reach his desk. But he hasn’t promised to veto the ban, and he hasn’t put a limit on it in his second term (and possibly his final term, as the Constitution stipulates), so there’s no logical reason for him not to do so.
Trump would also ban abortion in every state by enforcing the Comstock Act, a 19th-century anti-obscenity law that prohibited mailing “any article or article designed, altered or intended for the production of an abortion or for any obscene or immoral use.” You can do it too. Trump’s right-wing allies have already planned to force Comstock to ban abortion by banning shipments of related medical supplies. It may also be used to ban some forms of birth control.
Trump, teasing the upcoming attraction, said:hourHe said he would announce his plans for the Comstock Act in the next two weeks.
Do you think women should be able to take the abortion pill mifepristone?
TRUMP: Well, I have an opinion on that, but I won’t explain it. I won’t tell you yet. But I have pretty strong opinions about it. And I think it will probably be released sometime next week.
Well, this is a big question, Mr. President. Because your allies have called for enforcement of the Comstock Act, which bans the mailing of drugs used in abortions. The Biden Justice Department did not enforce it. Will the Department of Justice enforce this?
TRUMP: We will be making a statement on this over the next 14 days.
Will you?
TRUMP: Yes, I have a big statement on that. I feel very strongly about that. Actually, I think it’s a very important issue.
He’s right that this is an important issue and could affect voting. Whatever he announces, his allies want to ban abortion nationwide, and it’s clear that Trump has little intention of interfering with his radical project of banning abortion and monitoring and prosecuting women.
In 2016, Trump instinctively knew that the anti-abortion movement was moving in a direction that would punish women, but he didn’t yet know that it was taboo to say it out loud. Now he and they can speak much more freely. Imagine what people will say if he wins his second term.
