Here’s 13 Times Over the Last 25 Years on How Trump’s Views on Abortion Have Shifted

13 Times Trump’s Take on Abortion Has Changed

Donald Trump's newest shift on the subject of abortion was demonstrated on April 8 when he proclaimed that states, not the federal government, should be the ones to choose what kind of access women will have to abortions in the future, CNN reported. Throughout his 25-year public relations and political career, Trump has found himself on both sides of the divisive issue, occasionally changing his positions to appease the voters he is attempting to win over. From his early days as a business mogul to his stint in the presidency and now to his re-election bid, here's a chronology of 13 significant statements made by Trump about abortion over the years, and how they've shifted.

1. October 24, 1999

While Trump was a well-known businessman in the New York region before he became a politician, he always had the power to upend political systems. Long before he was affiliated with the Republican party, Trump said on the program Meet the Press, "I'm very pro-choice," implying that New York's liberal politics influenced his opinions. “I hate the concept of abortion,” he said. “But still, I just believe in choice.” He was publicly considering running for president in the 2000 election at the time but ended up not doing that.

2. August 6, 2015

As Trump pursued the Republican Party's presidential candidacy for 2016, his 1999 comments became the target of criticism from his opponents in the Republican Party, this time in earnest, per Washington Post. During a 2015 debate, when asked about them, Trump claimed to have "evolved." Trump attributed his reversal of course on a friend's unborn kid that “was going to be aborted. And it wasn’t aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child.” Defending his about-turn, he said, “You know who else has, is Ronald Reagan evolved on many issues.”

3. March 1, 2016

Trump's rhetoric on abortion fluctuated between courting voters in the general election and gaining the favor of doubtful conservative hardliners as he advanced toward the Republican nomination in 2016, per CNN. His acrobatics were evident in his contradictory remarks against Planned Parenthood, which he made just after an impressive showing on the 2016 Super Tuesday. “Planned Parenthood has done very good work for millions of women,” he said. “But we’re not going to allow and we’re not going to fund, as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood. We understand that, and I’ve said it loud and clear.” He continued, “We’ll see what happens, but I’ve had thousands of letters from women that have been helped. This wasn’t a set-up, this was people writing letters.”

4. March 30, 2016

In March 2016, Trump's strained attempts were further demonstrated when, over three hours, the former president spoke both in favor of and against penalizing women who had abortions. Chris Matthews of MSNBC questioned President Trump on the consequences for women seeking abortions if the practice became outlawed at a televised town hall. “There has to be some form of punishment,” Trump said during the event. “For the woman?” Matthews asked, and Trump responded, “Yes.” Trump's team released a statement stating, “This issue is unclear and should be put back to the states,” as criticism of the comments grew.

5. October 19, 2016

In a 2016 debate with then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Trump promised to appoint justices who have a negative view on abortion to the US Supreme Court. “The justices that I am going to appoint will be pro-life, they will have a conservative bent,” he declared. Later in the debate, Trump declared that his picks would contribute to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. By that time, Trump had made public a list of possible candidates he would take into consideration to join the Supreme Court.

6. January 23, 2017

One of Trump's first actions as president was to issue a memo prohibiting US financing of groups offering abortion services, including counseling. Four months later, Trump signed a law that reversed an Obama-era rule and permitted states to withhold federal funding from groups that provide abortions. Unusually, Trump signed the bill into law out of sight of the media and behind closed doors. “(Women’s) worst fears are now coming true. We are facing the worst political attack on women’s health in a generation as lawmakers have spent the past three months trading away women’s health and rights at every turn,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement at the time.

7. January 24, 2020

Trump became the first sitting president to attend the annual March for Life demonstration in 2020 held in Washington, D.C., as he began his reelection campaign. In his address to a crowd assembled on the National Mall, Trump offered his clearest and most forceful defense of his anti-abortion platform, expressing his strong and unequivocal opposition. He vowed to "veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policies or that encourages the destruction of human life," often referencing to Christian doctrine. “Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House,” he said. “And as the Bible tells us, each person is ‘wonderfully made.’”

8. June 24, 2022

After the Supreme Court, comprising three of his appointees, decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, 6-3, ending the legal right to an abortion, Trump declared triumph. More than a year after leaving the White House, Trump hailed it as "the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation" and claimed that the decision was “only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court.” He proclaimed, “It was my great honor to do so!”

9. January 1, 2023

In a New Year's Day statement posted on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump accused the anti-abortion hardliners of being to fault for the Republican losses in the midterm elections that followed the Dobbs decision's aftermath. “It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms,” Trump, who had announced his latest presidential campaign just a week after the 2022 elections, wrote. “It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.”

10. September 17, 2023

Throughout the most recent GOP primary, Trump refrained from expressing an opinion on federal legislation that would limit abortion. When he did speak during the primaries, it was mainly to reaffirm his position that Republicans had exposed themselves politically by moving quickly to restrict access to abortion following the Dobbs ruling. This includes denouncing Republican primary opponent and governor of his own state, Ron DeSantis, for having signed a bill that outlawed abortions in most cases up to six weeks into a pregnancy. “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said then.

11. March 19, 2024

Lately, Trump, to the dismay and disbelief of some in his campaign, dabbled in favor of a nationwide ban on abortions beyond 15 weeks. In a recent radio interview, Trump asserted that “people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable,” without providing any supporting data. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former adviser Kellyanne Conway were among the Trump allies who pushed the former president to back a federal abortion ban, according to a CNN story from last week.

12. April 2, 2024

The most widely known resident of the Sunshine State was made aware of two decisions rendered by the Florida Supreme Court: one that opened the door for a state restriction on abortions lasting up to six weeks, and the other that offered voters an opportunity to include abortion rights in the state constitution in November. During a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump, a resident of Florida who will be voting on the state's abortion referendum this autumn, refrained from commenting on the most recent events in his home state. “We’ll be making a statement next week on abortion,” Trump teased instead.

13. April 8, 2024

In a video message posted to his Truth Social account, Trump effectively declined to endorse a federal abortion ban by stating that "states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both" over the future of abortion accessibility in America. In his speech, Trump expressed gratitude to the six justices nominated by Republicans to overturn Roe v. Wade, praising them for having the “courage to allow this long-term, hard-fought battle to finally end.” “This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people in each state, it was really something,” he said. “Now, it’s up to the states to do the right thing.”