Donald Trump would seek to defund Planned Parenthood if he wins the election next month, according to his running mate.
“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,” JD Vance said on Saturday, according to NBC News. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
Figures this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 93.5 percent of abortions in 2021 were carried out either at or before 13 weeks, with less than 6 percent performed between 13 and 20 weeks, and less than 1 percent either at or after 21 weeks.
Vance’s comments Saturday quickly provoked condemnation from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, with spokesperson Lauren Hitt saying his statement showed “a second Trump term is too big a risk for American women and their families.”
“The only way to stop an unchecked Trump and his MAGA allies from ripping away freedoms from American women is to elect Vice President Harris, who will defend women’s access to health care and reproductive freedom,” she added.
Vance’s remarks came ahead of the publication of a new book from Trump’s wife, Melania, in which the former first lady reportedly outlines a passionate pro-choice argument, having previously remained largely silent on a question considered one of the most controversial tenets of her husband’s political outlook.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body,” an extract from that book, obtained by The Guardian, reportedly reads. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
Trump has previously taken credit for having been able to “kill” Roe v. Wade, which ended the constitutional right to abortion, having appointed three Supreme Court judges at the heart of the decision.
The former president has more recently made attempts to appear to soften his rhetoric on the contentious issue, even claiming in an X post last Tuesday that, if re-elected, he would veto a national abortion ban despite Democratic accusations to the contrary.
