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 Gage Skidmore

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(
LifeSiteNews) – Former President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump removed all lingering doubt Tuesday night where he stands on protecting preborn babies at the federal level, declaring on social media he would veto any abortion ban that managed to reach his desk.

While his vice presidential running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, debated Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, on abortion policy, Trump posted on X that “EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE STATES TO DECIDE BASED ON THE WILL OF THEIR VOTERS” (capitalization in the original).

He went on to repeat the false claim that the late Ronald Reagan supported rape and incest exceptions as president and slam Democrats for supporting abortion in the third trimester and even after birth (without elaborating on what that distinction means in practice if he would veto late-term abortion bans just as they would).

X owner Elon Musk highlighted Trump’s post, adding that it makes the candidate’s position “absolutely obvious and unequivocal.”

“Who does President Trump think he’s serving by this position?” Live Action founder and president Lila Rose asked. “He turns his back on what should be his most reliable voters to embrace a mushy position that will win no one new. Competing with Kamala Harris on who is more passionate about killing babies is a dead end.”

Rose lamented Trump’s turn as a “perilous political mistake and absolutely tragic for the country and the children who have no one to fight for them.”

Since 2023, Trump has worked to stake out a far more liberal abortion position than what he campaigned on in previous elections and practiced in office. He now opposes further federal action on abortion and supports letting abortion pills be distributed by mail, and has caused consternation among current and former pro-life supporters by staking out those positions over the past several months, along with his work to, in his own words, make the GOP “less radical” on abortion, including by having the national Republican Party platform rewritten to reflect his more liberal position.

Even so, Trump’s latest statement represents a shift from his previous remarks. While Vance affirmed in an August interview that Trump would veto an abortion ban, Trump himself has generally avoided explicitly saying so. In his debate last month against Vice President and Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Trump avoided a direct answer, saying instead “I wouldn’t have to” because such a bill would never get that far.

Trump’s left-wing turn on abortion has anguished many pro-lifers, who were key to his original 2016 victory, prompting debate among many about whether to vote or abstain in the November election.

At the same time, however, Trump’s continued difference from Democrats on issues such as “transitioning” gender-confused minors and Harris and Democrats’ continued support for a comprehensive far-left policy agenda, including unlimited abortion-on-demand, is expected to keep most conservatives and Republicans resigned to accepting him as preferable.

Harris currently leads Trump by 2% in RealClearPolitics’ popular vote polling average and by 3.7% to 4% according to RaceToTheWH (depending on whether former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is counted), but margins remain extremely close in the swing states that will decide the Electoral College outcome.

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