For voters, abortion is a critical issue in the 2024 election. Three out of four voters say it’s important or very important to them, according to an Aug. 13 poll by The Economist/YouGov.
Ahead of the Sept. 10 debate between Trump and Harris, The Epoch Times reviewed the presidential candidates’ positions on the matter.
We found narrow areas of agreement, broad areas of disagreement, and positions on both sides that, some experts say, are not entirely clear.
Trump’s Position
Trump’s position on abortion has changed over the years. In the 1990s, he described himself as pro-choice, moving to adopt a pro-life position by 2011.Trump’s position in the post-Roe era has drawn criticism from some supporters and left others uncertain of exactly where he stands.
Opposition to abortion has been a standard plank in the Republican Party platform since 1976.
Since the procedure was legal, the party focused on eliminating taxpayer funding for abortion and banning its use for gender selection, on disabled children, or in the later stages of pregnancy.
Following the ruling, the party has had to deal with more specific questions, such as whether or not to pursue a national ban on the procedure and how aggressively to regulate abortion, abortion-inducing drugs, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) at the state level.
He has also criticized some state’s approach to the matter.
“I think the six weeks is too short,” Trump told NBC News on Aug. 29, without specifying the number of weeks that should be allowed.
“It has to be more time. And I’ve told them I want more weeks.”
The amendment would establish a right to abortion through fetal viability and afterward in cases where the mother’s health care provider thinks it necessary to protect her health. Opponents say the measure would allow abortion up until birth and could allow for taxpayer-funded abortion.
Trump’s stance has drawn criticism from some pro-life Republicans who favor more federal action on the matter.
Characterizing Trump’s position as a betrayal of the pro-life cause, Live Action founder and President Lila Rose warned that the former president was “losing pro-life votes.”
Rose and other pro-life leaders softened their criticism after Trump clarified his remarks on the Florida amendment. Others hold out hope for a course correction—if not before the election, then after.
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins told The Epoch Times that her organization is now pushing for a “new deal” with Trump in exchange for pro-life voters’ support.
“We have a lot of places where we can put money where the mouth is here—like defunding and debarring Planned Parenthood, which is the nation’s largest abortion vendor, that gets almost $700 million [from] taxpayers every year,” she said.
Some simply find Trump’s take on the issue confusing.
“It does not appear that he has any genuine positions related to abortion and contraception,” Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, told The Epoch Times. She added that Trump’s stance appears calculated to satisfy supporters’ demands.
“I think the only way to summarize Trump’s position is ‘incoherent,’” she said.
Jesse Charles, a voter from Romulus, Michigan, also finds Trump’s position unclear.
Harris’s Position
Vice President Kamala Harris has consistently said that abortion constitutes a fundamental right for women and expressed support for legislation to restore a federal right to abortion as per Roe v. Wade.Under Roe, a federal right to abortion was recognized through fetal viability—typically between 22 and 24 weeks—and afterward, when deemed necessary to protect the mother’s life and health.
Harris supports IVF and the ability of doctors to provide abortion-inducing medication by mail.
The site also refers to her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, leading Minnesota to become the first state to enact legislation guaranteeing a right to abortion following the overturn of Roe.
Harris has been endorsed by both Planned Parenthood Action and Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL).
“Here’s the undeniable truth: Vice President Kamala Harris is the only person running for president that we can trust to protect access to abortion,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, wrote in a July 23 statement.
Yet Harris also has critics within her party.
“She hasn’t articulated her stance,” Merle Hoffman, cofounder of the National Abortion Federation, told The Epoch Times.
“What is she going to do for women and girls on all the issues of reproductive choice and freedom?” Hoffman asked.
As for restoring the Roe-era right to abortion with its “problematic” limitations, Hoffman was unsure that was the best path forward and noted that passage in both houses of Congress would be required.
Charo said that’s an unlikely scenario in the current political climate.
“It is exceedingly unlikely that such legislation could get through the Senate absent a change in the filibuster rules,” she said.
The Future
Trump’s federalist approach has allowed each state to form its own approach to abortion. Yet advocates on both sides continue to hope for a national solution.“We are not living in the United States of America. We are living in a red state or a blue state,” Audrey Blondin, an attorney who teaches public health policy at the University of New Haven, told The Epoch Times.
Blondin says a nationwide approach must be found. “Your right to health care as a woman should not be determined by your zip code.”
Blondin said she thinks most Americans agree that the 14th Amendment right to privacy covers a woman’s right to choose.
The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, interprets the amendment differently.
“The 14th Amendment guarantees protection of life,” he said, referring to the life of the unborn child.
“It points us in the direction of where we need to end up,” Pavone told The Epoch Times. “We’re not there culturally yet.”
Some leaders on both sides of the debate expressed fear that the needs of women are being lost in the political wrangling.
“Millions of women are going to die and have their health care compromised by the current status quo,” Blondin said. “It’s got to change.”
Jeff Bradford, president of Human Coalition, wants to shift the conversation on abortion away from the procedure itself to the needs of mothers. According to Bradford, 76 percent of the women his organization helps say they would prefer to keep their babies if not for their difficult circumstances.
“These are the same women that are being seen in Planned Parenthood. It’s the same client,” he said.
Bradford would like more energy directed to alleviating women’s concerns about housing, education, employment, and child care.
“I think that’s what our politicians should be talking about on either side—that these moms want help,” he said.
