(LifeSiteNews) — Former President Donald Trump refused to directly endorse efforts to pass a nationwide 15-week abortion ban as legislation supported by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina would do. The moderate Republican senator was an early endorser of Trump’s 2024 re-election bid.
President Trump responds to question about a national 15-week abortion limit. pic.twitter.com/N1YRWvqrI6
— Matt Lamb (@MattLamb22) May 1, 2023
“If you’re president again in 2025 and Senator Graham’s 15-week abortion ban lands on your desk, are you going to sign it?” a reporter from WMUR asked President Trump on April 27.
“We’re going to look at it. We’re looking at a lot of different options. We got it back to the States. We did the Roe v. Wade thing, which they’ve been trying to get it done for 50 years. I got it done,” he said. “I appointed incredible justices and judges all over, 300 federal judges and three justices, and I was able to do things that nobody else was able to and we’ll get something done where everyone is going to be very satisfied. I believe that.”
The reporter again asked if he would push for anything on the “national level.”
“I think we’ll get it done on some level. It could be on different levels, but we’re going to get it done. I know the issue very well, I think I know the issue better than most and we will get that taken care of,” Trump said, again refusing to give a direct answer.
Trump previously drew criticism from pro-life leaders for his “morally indefensible” stance on abortion legislation, which included leaving the issue to the states and not committing to getting behind a federal ban, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.
“His silence spoke very loudly to the pro-life movement,” Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins told The Washington Post. “We were pretty disappointed.”
According to the CDC, around 93% of abortions in the U.S. are committed on babies during the first trimester of pregnancy – meaning a national ban on abortions at the 15-week mark would only stop a small percentage of abortions.