Abortion Lies and Disinformation to Watch for During the Presidential Debate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of the first 2024 presidential debate, Planned Parenthood Votes has a few things you should keep in mind as we prepare for Donald Trump’s spectacle of lies on abortion — and likely everything else — tonight. Reminder: Donald Trump only cares about winning and will say anything to get elected. Watch what he does, not what he says. You can’t trust his campaign statements, but you can trust his record on abortion. He’s bragged about overturning Roe, he’s tried to defund Planned Parenthood, and he’s said that abortion patients should be punished.

Here are five things to remember about Trump’s abortion lies and record before the first presidential debate:

1. Yes, Donald Trump would sign a national abortion ban.

Trump has repeatedly voiced support for a national abortion ban, and continuously rolled back access to sexual and reproductive care as president. He only changed his stance as scrutiny heightened, because it’s clear he’s on the wrong side of voters.

• In March 2024, Trump signaled support for a national 15-week abortion ban, telling an interviewer, “The number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable.”
• In 2023, when asked if he would support a 15-week abortion ban, Trump said “we’re going to get it done.”
• Trump also supported a national 20-week abortion ban as president — the first to include that ban in his budget.

 2. ​​​​​​​There is no such thing as “abortion up until birth.”

It's pure propaganda. Anti-abortion activists have manufactured this myth to deliberately stigmatize and mislabel abortion care. Less than 1% of abortions take place in the third trimester, and when they do it is often a result of catastrophic medical diagnoses. People should have access to the care they need throughout pregnancy. At no point in a pregnancy is a politician more qualified to make decisions about your health than you and your health care provider.

3. The majority of Americans support abortion rights and disagree with Trump’s Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe.

Donald Trump likes to claim that there is widespread support for the end of Roe, because the truth endangers his campaign. But the opposite is true: Abortion rights are popular, and when people hear the facts, they overwhelmingly oppose abortion bans. Anti-abortion politicians like Trump can’t compete, so he’s trying to hide behind lies.

Here are the facts:

• Nearly 80% of Americans say the decision to have an abortion should be left to a patient and their doctor. 
• By a two-to-one margin, voters say eliminating the federal right to abortion has been bad for the country.
• More than half of voters say abortion has become too difficult to access nationwide. 

4. Let’s give credit where credit is due: Donald Trump is responsible for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.  

Trump has repeatedly bragged that he did more to end abortion rights than anyone else. Trump bragged about “terminating” Roe v. Wade, and said it was an honor to do so. He’s even called patients having to flee their state for basic health care a “beautiful thing to watch.”

5. Donald Trump’s cronies already have a plan to attack our reproductive rights on Day One.

He and his allies want to ban abortion nationwide using every lever and tool they can, and it’s clear they are coming for IVF and birth control next. Trump’s allies already have a plan to resurrect the 1873 Comstock Act to ban abortion nationwide and punish patients and providers. And they wouldn’t even need Congress to do it.

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Planned Parenthood Votes is an independent expenditure political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission.