Memo: Don’t believe Donald Trump’s “state rights” claims; He will try to ban abortion nationwide

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Planned Parenthood Votes

RE: Don’t believe Donald Trump’s “state rights” claims; He will try to ban abortion nationwide  

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Recent reporting continues to take Trump’s words at face value — believing him when he says that the issue of abortion now lives with the states. REMINDER: Donald Trump will do or say whatever he thinks will get him re-elected. Do not believe anything he says. We don’t trust him or his allies to leave abortion up to the states and neither should you.  

Because of Donald Trump, 22 states have banned all or some abortions. While Trump wishes for the issue to be “tempered down,” abortion remains top of mind for voters this election. He may be changing his public stance as voters demonstrate their support for the issue at the ballot box, but we can’t forget what Trump’s already done to strip us of our rights or the anti-abortion zealots he’s surrounded himself with. That’s why we must call him out on the lies and mistruths, and give voters the necessary context to understand Trump’s true position and the dangerous policies we can expect his potential future administration to pursue. Leaving abortion up to the states also continues to cause untold harm to families as these abortion bans make pregnancy more dangerous. Make no mistake: Any position that puts the government — state or federal — in control of people’s personal medical decisions is indefensible. 

Here are three important facts to remember and highlight when covering Trump’s position on abortion: 

1. Trump’s allies want to ban abortion nationwide by pursuing a dangerously wrong view of the 1800s Comstock laws: Just look at what they’ve said and what they’ve put on paper in Project 2025. His own VP pick JD Vance signed on to a letter that supports the DOJ weaponizing the Comstock laws to prosecute abortion providers right now for allegedly violating the 150+ year old statute. His lawyer and potential attorney general candidate Jonathan Mitchell admitted, “We don’t need a federal [abortion] ban when we have Comstock on the books.” And the loyalists who drafted Project 2025 call for a radical and flawed interpretation of these laws — despite settled law to the contrary — to be applied if Trump wins, to punish abortion providers and people seeking care — essentially a national abortion ban. And they can do so without Congress. 
2. Trump is open to restricting or banning mifepristone: We saw this during his recent rant at Mar-A-Largo and JD Vance’s Sunday show circuit last weekend. When you revoke approval of or restrict access to this critical drug in every state — whether abortion is protected or banned there — that means taking away the most common type of abortion across the country. Again, their goal is to do this without Congressional approval.
3. The Trump administration was incredibly hostile to our reproductive rights and freedoms. Just look at Trump’s first term to know what we can expect in a second. In addition to appointing the justices who would eventually lead to Roe v Wade’s demise (a fact Trump himself has repeatedly bragged about), Trump was incredibly hostile to abortion and other sexual and reproductive health care throughout his presidency. He supported a national 20-week abortion ban while in office. Trump was also the first president to single out Planned Parenthood and call for its defunding in his 2018 budget, which would have left millions without access to birth control, STI testing, and other critical reproductive health care services. Check out Planned Parenthood Votes' recap of the attacks on basic health care we saw throughout his four years. 

Your rights should never depend on your ZIP code. Right now, 22 states have banned all or some abortions, meaning 29 million women are now without full control of their bodies. And with lawmakers in states like Utah and Montana continuously looking for ways to further restrict access, that number will only continue to grow. Trump can say whatever he wants about leaving the issue to the states. And he can try to play word games by saying he won’t ask Congress for a national abortion ban — but there are plenty of ways to try to ban abortion nationwide without action from Congress. The impact is clear, as are his plans. Trump has repeatedly expressed support for those unconventional methods to try to eliminate abortion. By doing so, he’s supporting a national ban – and reporting should hold him accountable for that position. 

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