QUOTES: Comparing Trump’s Stance on Abortion Over Time

Abortion is sure to be a divisive topic during the 2024 election following the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, thereby ending a nationwide right to abortion.

As Republicans try to navigate the issue, Donald Trump, the former president and 2024 candidate, has landed in a few different places on it over the years. Trump has called himself the most “pro-life president ever” and taken credit for appointing the Supreme Court conservative majority that overturned Roe v. Wade.

But in the wake of GOP midterm losses in which abortion was pivotal, he said last year that a hard-line stance on the topic makes it difficult for Republicans to win elections, adding that “this issue cost us dearly in the midterms – and unnecessarily.”

The range of viewpoints from Trump – from pro-choice to punitive to politically pragmatic – along with his firm grip on much of the Republican Party underscore how difficult it is for the GOP to reach a consensus on abortion policy, which will only become more important as the U.S. approaches Election Day.

Here are five key quotes from Trump on abortion over the years:

– “I’m very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject. But you still – I just believe in choice,” Trump said during a “Meet the Press” interview in October 1999.

– “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment,” Trump told a 2016 MSNBC town hall after being asked: “Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?” After his response, the host then sought a clarification on his use of the word punishment: “For the woman?” And Trump said, “Yeah, there has to be some form.” Following widespread criticism, Trump later walked back his comments in a statement.

– “Today’s decision, which is the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation, along with other decisions that have been announced recently, were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a statement in June 2022 after the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned.

Shortly after that statement, Trump credited divine intervention for the Supreme Court’s decision.

“God made the decision,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

– “We have to be strong and powerful. That’s why when I’m re-elected, I will continue to fight against the demented late-term abortionists in the Democrat Party who believe in unlimited abortion on demand and even executing babies after birth,” Trump said at the 2023 Faith & Freedom Coalition Gala in Washington, D.C., adding that he was proud to be “the most pro-life president” in U.S. history.

– “We’re living in a time when there has to be a little bit of a concession one way or the other,” Trump said Wednesday during a Fox News town hall. He would go on to qualify the origin of his pragmatism on the issue: “I will say this: You have to win elections. Otherwise, you’re going to be back where you were, and you can’t let that ever happen again. You’ve got to win elections.”