CHICAGO (AP) — Melania Trump revealed her support for the right to abortion on Thursday ahead of the upcoming release of her autobiography, highlighting a stark contrast with the stance of her husband, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the crucial electoral issue.
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In a video posted on her X social media account on Thursday morning, the former first lady defended women's "individual freedoms" to do what they want with their bodies, a position at odds with much of the Republican Party and her own husband, who has struggled to find a coherent message on the issue at a time when he is caught between anti-abortion forces within his base and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.
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"Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard," Melania Trump said in the video. "Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that every woman possesses from birth: Individual freedom. What does 'my body, my choice' really mean?"
What does Melania Trump say in her memoirs?
The video appears to confirm excerpts from her autobiography revealed by The Guardian on Wednesday.
Melania Trump has rarely publicly expressed her personal political opinions and has been largely absent from the election campaign. But in her upcoming autobiography, she argues that the decision to terminate a pregnancy should be left to the woman and her doctor, "free from any government intervention or pressure", according to the published excerpts.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” wrote the former first lady, as reported by The Guardian. “The fundamental right of women to individual freedom, to their own lives, gives them the authority to terminate their pregnancy if they so choose.”
Melania Trump claims that she has "carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life."
Why does the issue of abortion complicate things so much for Donald Trump?
These views sharply contrast with the anti-abortion platform of the Republican Party and with Trump, who takes credit for appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped eliminate the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, returning that decision to each state.
Democrats blame the former president for the serious deterioration of reproductive rights as abortion bans were implemented in large areas of the country following the reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which granted the constitutional right to abortion.
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign highlighted Trump's role in ending Roe vs. Wade in a statement in reaction to Melania Trump's defense of the right to abortion.
"Unfortunately, for women all over the United States, Mrs. Trump's husband disagrees with her and is the reason why more than one in three American women live under Trump's abortion ban that threatens their health, freedom, and lives," said Sarafina Chitika, spokesperson for the Harris campaign, in a statement. "Donald Trump has made it very clear: if he wins in November, he will ban abortion nationwide, punish women, and restrict women's access to reproductive healthcare."
Donald Trump has not presented a clear stance on abortion, but he does support it if a state decides to ban it.
This has become one of her main flanks in her campaign, it is one of the reasons why, according to the polls, Harris has a 10% advantage among women and is one of the main points of attack of the Democratic Party.