When a reporter asked Donald Trump on Thursday whether he would consider banning the abortion pill, his response was: predictably mutilatedBut the key words in the Republican presidential candidate’s answer were: “Sure you could” and “absolutely.”
The question came up during a press conference took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his first public appearance since Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
“Sure, you could – you could do things that would be complementary,” Trump said when asked if he would use regulations to ban mifepristone, commonly known as the abortion pill. “Absolutely … But you have to have the opportunity to vote, and I just want to give everyone a vote.”
Mifepristone is one part of a two-part treatment to terminate a pregnancy during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It is now used for 63% of the services provided by physicians Abortions in states where abortion is still legal. The percentage is likely higher because self-performed abortions and abortions in states with a complete ban cannot be prosecuted. In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration will Extended access to the medicine so that it can be dispensed in pharmacies and by post.
The Supreme Court rejected to overturn FDA actions in a high-profile case this term, a decision that Trump agreed during the debate with President Joe Biden in June. At the time, Trump claimed he would not ban the drug.
“First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill. And I agree with their decision and I will not block it,” Trump said at the time. Today, that is no longer the case.
What the reporter wanted to know on Thursday was whether Trump outdated Comstock law to ban the distribution of the pills. The 1873 law prohibited the mailing of contraceptives, “objectionable” writings, and any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” that could be used in an abortion. It has been repealed by Supreme Court decisions and new laws over the past 150 years, but it remains on the books and in the minds the Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump.
Using this law to ban abortion pills is exactly what the conservative Heritage Foundation is calling for in its extremist Blueprint of Project 2025 for the next Republican president. You know, the group and the plan that Trump has tried to deny.
The fact that Trump now seems open to the idea of banning mifepristone again is further evidence that he is closely aligned with the government’s plan makers. But we basically already knew that, and the Washington Post had more evidence This week: a picture of Trump from 2022 on a private plane with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts (who Trump said he doesn’t know it) on his way to a Heritage Foundation conference.
“They will lay the groundwork and develop detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do,” Trump said in his keynote speech at the conference. These plans include a national ban on abortion.
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SIMILAR STORIES:
Abortion pills are safe in the Supreme Court – for now
Senate Democrats seek to overturn outdated law that could restrict abortion rights
Alito and Thomas urge anti-abortion activists to rely on an 1873 law
Project 2025 was not “cancelled,” much to Trump’s dismay
