Trump declines to back nationwide abortion ban, says it should be left to the states

Former President Donald Trump declined to endorse a nationwide abortion ban and said abortion policy should be left up to the states.

"My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state," Trump said in a video posted on Truth, his social media platform.

The move comes as an increasing number of Republican-led states have worked to restrict abortion rights. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court allowed the state's six-week ban on abortion to go into effect May 1; that's before most women know they're pregnant.

Pressure mounted on Trump to make his own views on abortion public. He said last week an announcement would come this week. The announcement is unlikely to make the most ardent supporters of abortion restrictions happy. They had hoped Trump would support a 15-week ban on abortions nationwide.

In his video, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, claimed credit for the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that said women had a constitutional right to have an abortion. Trump appointed three justices to the court, giving it a 6-3 conservative supermajority.

The issue of abortion has become a pivotal one ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

This story will be updated [Copyright 2024 NPR]