Republican White House candidate Donald Trump on Friday sought to downplay the risk of a sharp backlash over his comments about a public retreat from a right-wing stance on reproductive rights.
The former president has come under fire from conservatives over his announcement that he would make in vitro fertilization (IVF) available for free in a second term — an expensive reproductive procedure that many in the anti-abortion movement want to ban.
The rift widened further when he criticized the six-week abortion ban in his home state of Florida as too restrictive and suggested he plans to vote for an upcoming ballot measure that would legalize the procedure as long as the fetus is viable.
Trump, 78, walked back his comments ahead of a rally in battleground Pennsylvania on Friday, telling Fox News that “I will vote ‘no.'”
But conservatives had already begun criticizing Trump’s constantly shifting stance on abortion, with a new Republican policy platform dropping calls for a national ban and Trump recently claiming his government would be “great” for reproductive rights.
His latest statement prompted a swift backlash from anti-abortion groups, with activists warning it risked alienating his supporters.
Evangelical theologian Albert Mohler said Trump’s stance “seems almost calculated to alienate pro-life voters”, while conservative commentator Erick Erickson posted that Trump’s stance on abortion “will be a step too far for a lot of people.”
Trump’s rally in Johnstown on Thursday was notable for its lack of any comment on reproductive rights, despite his major IVF announcement.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign was happy to comment on the issue, because they smelled blood.
“Most Americans support access to abortion, they support IVF, they support contraception,” Mini Timmaraju of the Reproductive Freedom for All lobby group told reporters in a campaign call.
“(Trump) has finally figured this out, and he will do anything to distract from his disgusting, appalling record on this issue.”
‘He is pro-life’
Trump has been all over the place on the abortion issue for the past 15 years, initially describing himself as “pro-abortion” but later calling for “some form of punishment” for women who seek abortions.
He boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who would eliminate federal protections for access to abortion in 2022, but recently he has begun to worry that Republicans are out of sync with a majority of voters on reproductive rights.
Her IVF pledge appears designed to appeal to liberals, but it will anger conservatives who for years opposed Barack Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act because they were against the redistributive economics of taxpayer-funded health insurance.
Nearly every Senate Republican voted against ensuring IVF access in a June vote — including Trump ally J.D. Vance — and more than half of House Republicans have sponsored a bill that threatens its legitimacy.
Republicans are divided over fertility treatments like IVF, with many calling it a boost for American families.
Others, who strongly believe that life begins at conception, oppose IVF because the procedure can produce many embryos, not all of which can be used.
Abortion rights activists worry the Supreme Court’s decision threatens IVF and are concerned about an Alabama ruling in February that frozen embryos could be considered human beings, forcing many clinics to halt treatments for a time.
Yet, if the abortion and IVF controversies threatened to alienate Trump’s most loyal supporters, those attending the rally in Jonestown gave no indication of that.
“It’s not enough to make me not vote for him, not by any means, because he’s pro-life,” said Lisa Davis, a 54-year-old retired office manager from the nearby town of Somerset.
“I know he wants to make some exceptions — and I think that’s as it should be.”
“Why should I have to pay my tax money to murder a child?” said Rosemary Drazl, a 69-year-old retired nurse.
There was no discussion of the issue at a fireside chat-style appearance by conservative pressure group Moms for Liberty on Friday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)