The president tweeted he believes in abortion in the cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnant person’s life is in danger.
Days after Alabama’s government passed a near-total ban on abortion, President Donald Trump and other prominent Republican lawmakers are staking out their more lenient positions on the issue.
Saturday night Trump sent out a series of tweets explaining his stance on reproductive rights while warning that Republicans will suffer if the party cannot get on the same page.
“I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions — Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother — the same position taken by Ronald Reagan,” he wrote. “We must stick together and Win for Life in 2020. If we are foolish and do not stay UNITED as one, all of our hard fought gains for Life can, and will, rapidly disappear!”
Alabama’s ban, which was signed into law by the state’s governor Wednesday, features only one of the three exceptions the president favors: It only allows for abortions if the pregnant person’s life is at risk, and has no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
On Sunday, Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas signaled they also have concerns about Alabama’s law.
In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Romney said he doesn’t support the Alabama law because, like the president, he believes in exceptions for rape, incest, and situations in which the pregnant woman’s life is in danger. He criticized both overly strict anti-abortion laws and very permissive abortion laws as “extreme,” arguing, “I think something much more toward the center makes a lot more sense.”
“I don’t support the Alabama law,” says Sen. Mitt Romney on the state’s strict abortion law. “I think something much more toward the center makes a lot more sense.” #CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/DaabJSRmDK
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Cotton echoed Trump and Romney. When host Chuck Todd asked the senator why he believes in these exceptions given he has been clear he believes life begins at conception, Cotton replied, “Because we live in a democratic society, I recognize not everyone shares my views.”
The remarks by Trump, Romney, and Cotton reflect an emerging trend among Republican leaders. Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also expressed support for the three exceptions. “He opposes abortion except in the instance of rape, incest, or the life of the mother in is danger,” his spokesman Doug Andres said.
And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took the same position. “I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, and that’s what I’ve voted on,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said.
And Alabama’s Republican senator, Richard Shelby, said he takes issue with his state’s new law. “I’m not down there,” he said of the ban, and echoed his colleagues in their support for exceptions to a total ban.
