Former President Trump on Wednesday said he would not sign a national abortion ban if reelected and such a bill passed Congress.
Trump was asked by reporters in Georgia if he would sign a national abortion ban if it reached his desk.
“No,” Trump responded, shaking his head.
Those comments came during the same interaction with reporters in which he called the overturning of Roe v. Wade an “incredible achievement” and stressed abortion policy should be determined by individual states, even as he criticized an Arizona law for going too far.
“Now the states have it, and the states are putting out what they want. It’s the will of the people,” he said. “So Florida’s probably going to change. Arizona is going to definitely change, everybody wants that to happen. And you’re getting the will of the people. It’s been pretty incredible when you think about it.”
Trump earlier this week released a four-minute video statement in which he declined to say whether he would support federal legislation restricting abortion. Instead, he said it should be left up to the states either by legislation or by vote.
That view was immediately tested by an Arizona court ruling Tuesday that upheld an 1864 law that made performing abortion a felony.
As president, Trump’s White House supported a House bill that banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and urged the Senate to pass the legislation and send it to his desk. The measure did not make it through the Senate, however.
A federal abortion ban would likely face a steep climb through Congress, where both chambers are expected to be narrowly divided after the 2024 elections.
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