Former First Lady of the United States Melania Trump strongly supports the right to abortion in her memoir to be published Tuesday, according to the Guardian, an unexpected position on a hot topic for the presidential election, to which her husband Donald Trump is a candidate.
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The issue of abortion is central in the November 5 duel between the former Republican president, who is counting on the vote of conservatives, and Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris, the latter actively defending the right to interruption voluntary pregnancy (abortion).
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her body? The fundamental right to individual freedom that a woman has (…) gives her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes,” writes Melania Trump in good papers revealed Wednesday by the Guardian.
Women must be “free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” insists the Republican candidate’s wife.
“Restricting a woman’s right to choose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have had this conviction throughout my adult life,” she adds, according to the British newspaper.
In a black and white video broadcast Thursday, Melania Trump, who is in full promotion before the release of the book, is more evasive.
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I protect, without a doubt. There is no room for compromise in this essential right that women have from birth. What does it really mean, +My body, my choice+?”, she asks, taking up the great slogan of the fight for the right to abortion.
Kamala Harris’ campaign team quickly seized the ball. “Unfortunately for women across America, Mrs. Trump’s husband strongly disagrees with her,” Democratic campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
In a federal country where the different states have significant prerogatives, Donald Trump considers that each of them must be free to decide for themselves possible restrictions concerning abortion.
Many southern states have banned or severely restricted abortions since the Supreme Court in June 2022 dynamited case law that protected this right on a national scale.
The Republican candidate has often congratulated himself on having contributed to this decision by appointing three conservative judges to the Supreme Court during his mandate.
In this context, Melania Trump’s comments provoked the ire of opponents of the right to abortion. “Most of what she says is simply false,” the SBA Pro-Life group reacted on X, taking up one of the anti-abortion arguments according to which women would be pressured to resort to it.
“Melania Trump’s support for abortion is anti-feminist and a clear departure from the teaching of our Catholic faith. “She’s wrong,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, a group that aims to “abolish abortion,” blasted on X. “Abortion ends an innocent life,” she insisted.
But while public opinion is mostly in favor of the right to abortion, Donald Trump himself has had to somewhat adjust his position on the issue.
The Republican candidate is now trying to present himself as a defender of “reproductive rights”, which has led to him being accused by conservatives of treason.
Already very invested in this issue as vice-president, Kamala Harris campaigned vigorously in defense of the right to abortion and, according to polls, is considered much more credible than her rival on the subject.
Before Melania Trump, other wives of former Republican presidents had taken a stand for the right to abortion, like Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush. But all of them spoke out long after their husbands left the White House for good.
