唐纳德·特朗普的前副总统迈克·彭斯打电话给特朗普关于他堕胎政策的最新声明“这是对在2016年和2020年投票支持他的数百万反堕胎美国人的一记耳光。”
“今天，太多的共和党政客都太愿意对这场生命之战撒手不管了。彭斯周一在X上的一篇帖子中写道:“当我们大胆说出真相并坚持我们都知道是正确的原则时，共和党人就赢得了生命——人类生命始于受孕，从子宫到坟墓都应该得到保护。”
便士一直属于前总统的右翼关于生育权的问题。
在他不成功的2024年总统竞选期间，彭斯主张将为期15周的堕胎禁令作为“全国最低标准”。
在他对X的声明中，彭斯-就像川普一样-吹捧他在最高法院推翻罗诉韦德案对堕胎权利的国家保护中的作用。
彭斯写道:“通过提名和支持保守派法官的确认，特朗普-彭斯政府帮助罗诉韦德案进入了属于它的历史垃圾堆，并让反堕胎运动有机会同情地支持妇女和未出生的孩子。”
彭斯的前幕僚长马克·肖特(Marc Short)也发表了一份言辞激烈的声明，谴责特朗普的立场，敦促这位前总统“承认生命始于受孕”。
肖特认为，特朗普之所以宣布这一决定，是因为“一种政治考量，试图避免直面堕胎这一根本邪恶，并“继续让这位前总统远离自己政府的保守成就。”
在周一的一份视频声明中，特朗普在几个月的回避关于他堕胎立场的问题拒绝支持全国堕胎禁令的呼吁，称他认为这应该是各州的权利问题。
特朗普说:“各州将通过投票或立法或两者兼而有之来决定，在这种情况下，无论他们决定什么都必须是该国的法律。
“归根结底，这都是人民的意愿，”他继续说。“你必须跟随你的心，或者在许多情况下，跟随你的宗教或信仰。做对家人好的事，做对自己好的事。为你的孩子做正确的事，为我们的国家做正确的事并投票。投票如此重要。归根结底，这一切都是人民的意愿。”
然而，特朗普的立场没有解决一些关键问题自从罗诉韦德案在2022年被否决以来，这已经成为堕胎权辩论的定义。
特朗普没有说他个人是否赞成州级禁令在怀孕几周后生效，他也没有说他将如何投票表决他的家乡佛罗里达州即将推出的一项投票措施，该措施将扩大那里的堕胎机会。尽管他特别批评堕胎政策是根据罗伊案在联邦一级决定的，但他没有说如果全国禁令通过国会并提交给他签署成为法律，他作为总统会怎么做。
特朗普也没有谈到他对堕胎药物的看法。目前，一群反堕胎医生正在最高法院对堕胎药物的使用提出质疑。尽管他重申支持堕胎禁令的三种例外情况——在强奸、乱伦或挽救孕妇生命的情况下——但他没有更具体地说明这些例外情况应该如何实施。
他的竞选团队没有回应美国广播公司新闻的后续问题。
他在最新的声明中表示，他对堕胎的看法与政治问题有关——他以前曾说过，并吹嘘他可以找到一个在选举中可行的妥协方案。
“我认为双方都会喜欢我，”他在9月接受NBC新闻采访时说。
“我认为共和党人在这个问题上说得非常含糊不清，”他当时说。
“除了这个国家的某些地区，你不能——你不会在这个问题上获胜。但当你提出正确的周数时，你就会在这个问题上获胜，”他告诉NBC新闻。
特朗普周一回应说:“许多州将有所不同。许多人的(禁令)周数会有所不同，或者有些人会比其他人更保守，这就是他们的情况。”
南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆(Kristi Noem)是共和党人，被认为是特朗普的潜在竞选伙伴之一，她在自己的社交媒体帖子中同意特朗普的观点。
保守派公共政策组织“关心美国妇女”在其首席执行官的一份声明中表示，2024年大选是特朗普反对堕胎和拜登之间的“严峻选择”。
其他保守派与特朗普分裂。
参议员林赛·格雷厄姆发表声明说，他“尊重地不同意”特朗普的立场，这对特朗普的坚定盟友来说是罕见的背叛。
格雷厄姆长期以来一直倡导在全国范围内实施为期15周的堕胎禁令，他表示将继续倡导此类限制。
特朗普以特有的直言不讳回应格雷厄姆，称格雷厄姆“对共和党和我们的国家造成了极大的伤害”。
特朗普说，民主党人“喜欢这个问题(堕胎)，只要共和党人允许他们这样做，他们就会一直坚持下去。”
更广泛地说，特朗普在社交媒体上坚称，将堕胎讨论送回各州是“共和党和保守派50年来的政策”。
美国领先的反堕胎权利组织之一另外表示，它对特朗普总统尊重各州的立场“深感失望”。
“未出生的儿童及其母亲应得到国家保护和国家宣传，免受堕胎行业的残酷行为之害。...苏珊·b·安东尼反对堕胎的美国总统马乔里·丹嫩费尔瑟在给美国广播公司的一份声明中说，说这个问题是“回到美国”就等于把全国辩论交给了民主党。
人人生殖自由组织(原名NARAL)对特朗普关于堕胎的声明做出了回应，声称这位前总统“在堕胎问题上发布了危险的虚假信息，以转移对他当选后将采取行动的真相的注意力。”
该组织坚称，尽管特朗普周一表示，他“将努力在全国范围内禁止所有堕胎行为。”
特朗普在即将到来的选举中的竞争对手乔·拜登(Joe Biden)总统在自己的声明中声称，特朗普现在正在“争先恐后地”通过对其真实立场的模棱两可来支撑支持率。
“不要有任何幻想。拜登说:“如果唐纳德·特朗普当选，国会中的MAGA共和党人将全国堕胎禁令放在坚决的办公桌上，特朗普将签署该禁令使之成为法律。”
周一晚些时候，他对特朗普关于堕胎的观点再次做出回应，称“唐纳德·特朗普刚刚批准了全国范围内每一个州对生殖保健的禁令。...唐纳德·特朗普是Roe终止的原因。如果你再次选举我，我将是它恢复的原因。”
Mike Pence calls Trump's abortion position 'a slap in the face'
Donald Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, is calling Trump'slatest statement on his abortion policies"a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020."
"Today, too many Republican politicians are all too ready to wash their hands of the battle for life. Republicans win on life when we speak the truth boldly and stand on the principle that we all know to be true - human life begins at conception and should be defended from womb to tomb," Pence wrote in a post on Monday on X, formerly Twitter.
Pencehas long been to the right of the former presidenton the issue of reproductive rights.
During his unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign, Pence advocated for a 15-week abortion ban as a "minimum nationwide standard."
In his statement on X, Pence -- like Trump has -- touted his role in the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade's national protections for abortion access.
"By nominating and standing by the confirmation of conservative justices, the Trump-Pence Administration helped send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs and gave the pro-life movement the opportunity to compassionately support women and unborn children," Pence wrote.
Marc Short, Pence's former chief of staff, also came out with a blistering statement rebuking Trump's stance, pushing for the former president to "acknowledge life begins at conception."
Short argued that Trump had made his announcement because of "a political calculation that tries to avoid confronting the fundamental evil of" abortion and "continues the former president's drift away from the conservative achievements of his own Administration."
In a video statement on Monday, Trump, after months ofdodging questions about his abortion position, rejected calls to endorse a national abortion ban, saying he believes it should be a states' rights issue.
"The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land in this case, the law of the state," Trump said.
"At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people," he continued. "You must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith. Do what's right for your family and do what's right for yourself. Do what's right for your children, do what's right for our country and vote. So important to vote. At the end of the day, it's all about the will of the people."
However, Trump's positiondid not address some of the key questionsthat have come to define the debate over abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overruled in 2022.
Trump did not say if he personally favors a certain number of weeks into pregnancy at which state-level bans should take effect, he did not say how he will vote on an upcoming ballot measure in his home state of Florida which would broaden abortion access there and though he specifically criticized that abortion policy had been decided at the federal level under Roe, he did not say what he would do as president if a nationwide ban passes Congress and makes it to his desk to be signed into law.
Trump also did not address his views on abortion medication, the use of which is currently being challenged before the Supreme Court by a group of anti-abortion doctors, and though he reiterated his support for three exceptions to abortion bans -- in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the pregnant woman -- he was not more specific on how those exceptions should be implemented.
His campaign did not respond to follow-up questions from ABC News.
He suggested in his latest statement that his views on abortion were tied to political concerns -- something he has said before while boasting that he could find an electorally viable compromise.
"I think both sides are going to like me," he said in September in an interview with NBC News.
"I think the Republicans speak very inarticulately about this subject," he said then.
"Other than certain parts of the country, you can't -- you're not going to win on this issue. But you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks," he told NBC News.
Trump echoed that on Monday: "Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks [for their ban] or some will have more conservative than others, and that's what they will be."
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican thought to be among Trump's potential running mate choices, agreed with him in a social media post of her own.
And the conservative public policy organization Concerned Women for America said in a statement from its CEO that the 2024 election is a "stark choice" between Trump's opposition to abortion and Biden.
Other conservatives split from Trump.
Sen. Lindsey Graham released a statement saying he "respectfully disagrees" with Trump's position, a rare defection for the staunch Trump ally.
Graham has long advocated for a nationwide 15-week abortion ban and he said he will continue to advocate for such restrictions.
Trump responded to Graham with characteristic bluntness, saying that Graham is "doing a great disservice to the Republican Party, and to our Country."
Democrats, Trump said, "love this Issue [abortion], and they want to keep it going for as long as Republicans will allow them to do so."
More broadly, Trump maintained on social media that sending the abortion discussion back to the states was the "policy of the Republican Party and Conservatives for 50 years."
One of the leading anti-abortion rights groups in the country separately said it was "deeply disappointed in President Trump's position" about deferring to individual states.
"Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. ... Saying the issue is 'back to the states' cedes the national debate to the Democrats," Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement to ABC News.
Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly known as NARAL) reacted to Trump's statement on abortion by claiming that the former president had "deployed dangerous disinformation about abortion in order to distract from the truth about what he will do if elected."
The group insisted that despite what Trump said on Monday, he "will work to ban all abortion nationwide."
President Joe Biden, Trump's rival in the upcoming election, contended in his own statement that Trump was now "scrambling" to shore up support by being ambiguous on his true stance.
"Let there be no illusion. If Donald Trump is elected and the MAGA Republicans in Congress put a national abortion ban on the Resolute Desk, Trump will sign it into law," Biden said.
He followed up later on Monday with another reaction to Trump's views on abortion, saying in part that "Donald Trump just endorsed every single state ban on reproductive care nationwide. ... Donald Trump is the reason Roe has ended. If you reelect me, I'll be the reason why it's restored."
