Donald Trump triggers confusion on access to birth control

Donald Trump has said he is ‘looking at’ allowing states to restrict access to birth control if he takes back the White House.

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump has said he is “looking at” allowing states to restrict access to birth control if he takes back the White House, declaring that he will unveil a policy on contraception “very shortly”.

Speaking to a local TV station in Pittsburgh, the former president was asked if he supported any restrictions on the right to contraception.

“We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting,” Mr Trump replied.

The presumptive Republican nominee for president declined to give details on the policy but added: “You will find it very smart. I think it’s a smart decision. But we’ll be releasing it very soon.”

Pressed on whether he would support states that ban some forms of contraception, including the morning-after pill, Mr Trump sidestepped the question, claiming that he would release further details “within a week or so”.

“Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have a different policy than others,” Mr Trump said.

He attempted to walk back his comments hours after the interview.

“I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL or other contraceptives … AND NEITHER WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

President Joe Biden’s campaign pounced on the interview comments as proof that Mr Trump plans to revoke further reproductive rights if he regains the presidency in November’s election.

Mr Biden has placed the fight for abortion rights at the centre of his re-election campaign, blaming Mr Trump for the “nightmare” unleashed on American women since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.

The ruling struck down the constitutional right to abortion after almost half a century, returning power to the states. Three of the conservative justices who voted to overturn Roe were appointed during Mr Trump’s presidency.

In the two years since that ruling, more than 20 states have imposed sweeping abortion bans. In parts of the country, women must now travel hundreds of kilometres to seek a termination, while doctors who perform an abortion can face criminal prosecution.

“Women across the country are already suffering from Donald Trump’s post-Roe nightmare, and if he wins a second term, it’s clear he wants to go even further by restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives,” a Biden campaign spokeswoman, Sarafina Chitika, said.

“It’s not enough for Trump that women’s lives are being put at risk, doctors are being threatened with jail time … He wants to rip away our freedom to access birth control too.”

Mr Trump has floundered on the abortion issue over recent weeks. The former president is caught between the conservative wing of his party which supports a national ban, and his bid to win back moderate Republican and independent voters in the swing states, including thousands of suburban women who deserted him at the 2020 election.

Mr Trump has veered between boasting about his hand in overturning Roe, declaring it “a miracle”, and dodging questions on the subject altogether. In a recent interview, the former president claimed that people are “very happy” that states now have power over abortion rights. But he was forced to intervene amid nationwide uproar last month when the battleground state of Arizona moved to restore a near-total abortion ban from 1864, during the American Civil War.

Mr Trump pressured Arizona Republicans to repeal the ban, fearing it would wreck his chances of winning back the state that Mr Biden won in 2020. The former president has also dodged questions about whether he supports a six-week ban that recently came into force in Florida.

Pro-choice activists are seeking to force a referendum on abortion rights on to the ballot in several states in November, a move that is expected to benefit Mr Biden and the Democrats. Attempts by conservatives to ban or restrict abortion have already been defeated in a series of state ballot initiatives since 2022, even in Republican strongholds.

Access to contraception is even more popular among Americans. A Gallup poll last year found that 88 per cent of Americans believed that birth control was morally acceptable, including 86 per cent of Republicans.

THE TIMES