The issue is not Trump “flip flopping” on abortion—it’s that Trump’s abortion bans are killing women
The GOP are women killers.
No, Donald Trump is not “flip-flopping” on abortion as some corporate media headlines are claiming. But the silver lining to this debate is that it elevates the issue of reproductive freedom to the forefront in the closing months of the campaign—reminding people Trump was “honored” to “kill” Roe v. Wade and that his abortion bans are literally killing women.
What sparked the headlines about Trump’s so-called “flip-flop” on abortion was when Trump first stated last week that he opposed the GOP enacted six week abortion ban in Florida. Trump told Fox News this six-week ban was a “mistake,” adding, "I think six weeks, you need more time.” However, after the pro-forced birth activists and Christian nationalists expressed outrage, Trump reversed course, saying he would vote no on the proposed Florida ballot measure that would repeal the state's six-week abortion ban.
Trump did not “evolve” on the issue of reproductive freedom. In reality, he has no core beliefs other than racism and sexism. The convicted felon simply sees the same polls and election results we have when it comes to abortion. Trump gets that a recent Gallup poll found only 12% of Americans support the GOP’s total abortion bans—while 85% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or certain circumstances. Add to that, a recent CNN poll found nearly two thirds of Americans oppose the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Trump simply wanted to appear more reasonable on abortion given new polls show Americans overwhelmingly trust VP Harris to handle the issue of reproductive freedom--which has contributed to a record gender gap. This explains Trump’s latest proposal regarding in vitro fertilization (IVF) that he claims will force insurance companies to pay for the costs of in vitro fertilization (IVF.) I’m sure we will see this “amazing” IVF plan the same time we see Trump’s “great” healthcare plan that he repeatedly promised since 2015 he would be unveiling in “two weeks.” Never happened.
Trump’s new IVF is not even original--he stole it from the Democrats. In June, Senate Democrats proposed legislation known as the Right to IVF Act that would have both enshrined into federal law a right for individuals to receive IVF treatment and would’ve mandated coverage for fertility treatments under health insurance plans. In other words, what Trump says he now wants to do. However, that legislation was blocked by all but two Senate Republicans included Trump’s own running mate, JD Vance.
What Trump and the GOP don’t get—or care to grasp—is that stripping women of a 50-year constitutional right to reproductive freedom is not a political issue, it’s personal. In fact, nothing is more personal than Republican laws that force women against their will to carry a fetus to term. And that is exactly what Republicans have done in 14 states they control with their total abortion bans that in essence mean on day one of pregnancy, a women’s uterus becomes property of the GOP. (An additional eight GOP controlled states have also implemented abortion bans still far more restrictive than under Roe v. Wade.)
These abortion bans—as studies have now detailed—are literally killing women. One study found that “women in states with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after giving birth.” A July study found that “the highest rates of maternal mortality can be found in the Mississippi Delta, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.” These states—as well as Texas and others--all have extreme abortion bans that have resulted in preventing women from receiving an abortion to address a women’s health needs. Rather, a woman must be on the doorstep of death before doctors are permitted by law to perform an abortion to save her life.
In addition, a study earlier this year by the well-respected Guttmacher Institute concluded that there is “clear and growing evidence” that the GOP abortion bans are “harming reproductive health and freedom.” One reason cited is that OBGYNs are leaving the GOP controlled states with extreme abortion bans meaning there are less healthcare professionals to provide prenatal care for all women. All of this is linked to more women dying during pregnancy.
To put it bluntly: Trump and the GOP are women killers.
This barbaric nightmare was set into motion by one person: Donald Trump. He promised during the 2016 campaign to appoint Supreme Court Justices that would end Roe. And after they did just that in the 2022 infamous Dobbs decision, Trump made numerous media appearances where he patted himself on the back for personally ending the constitutional right to abortion.
A few examples of Trump doing that on camera include:
1. In May 2023, while appearing in CNN Town Hall Trump boasted: “I was able to terminate Roe v. Wade after 50 years of trying,” adding he was “honored” to do so.
2. Newsmax interview in 2023, Trump bragged: “I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do.” He added, “I put on three Supreme Court justices. Very few people have had that privilege or honor.”
3. Trump on Fox News in Jan. 2024: "For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it and I'm proud to have done it."
In fact, just days ago the Harris campaign released an online ad of Trump recently saying about ending Roe v. Wade: “We've done an amazing thing there.” And at rallies, Harris has continually reminded people that what we are seeing is what she calls “Trump abortion bans” in GOP state after state and that Trump continues to brag about ending Roe, saying for that, “We will make sure he does face the consequence and that will be at the ballot box this November.”
Trump is not flip flopping. He is still “honored” to have stripped women of a constitutional right. And he knows these “Trump abortion bans” are killing women. It’s now time for all of us who oppose Trump and the GOP’s oppression—and killing of women—-to loudly make our voices heard at the ballot box.
I made the very point of this article on MSNBC Sunday night as you can see in this short clip:
Just more evidence that he will say absolutely anything if he thinks it will trick people into voting for him
Dean, your title says it all today. Being proud of killing women, shows exactly how much he cares about other people. I have difficulty wrapping my brain around being a disposable commodity, but that's exactly what trump is doing/ has done to women.