Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance on Sunday sought to walk back former President Donald Trump’s recent comments suggesting he is open to banning access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used in abortions. medications.
In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the Ohio Republican was asked whether a Trump-Vance administration would use the Food and Drug Administration to block access to mifepristone.
“Well, no,” he said. “What the president said very clearly is that abortion policy should be made by the states, right? Of course you want to be sure that any medication is safe and prescribed in the right way, and so on.”
Vance said Trump wants individual states and voters in those states to make decisions about abortion policy and for the federal government to respect those decisions.
He added that Trump has “consistently” said the party needs to “get off the side of the culture war on abortion.”
Asked by NBC News during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort last week whether he would take steps such as instructing the FDA to revoke access to mifepristone, Trump said: “We could do things that… would complement – absolutely – these things are quite open and human.”
“There are a lot of humane things you can do outside of that,” the former president added, saying “you also have to give people a vote” on abortion.
Trump’s comments on Thursday contrasted with his comments about the abortion pill during a meeting CNN debate in June in which he said he “wouldn’t block it.”
Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, later clarified to NBC News that Trump has long maintained a “position of supporting the rights of states to make abortion decisions.” Leavitt also said that the questions asked during the press conference were “difficult to hear” and that Trump has not changed his position on mifepristone, noting that “the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on the issue and the issue is resolved.”
In June, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld access to mifepristone, rejecting a challenge filed by a group of anti-abortion doctors. However, laws regarding access to the drug vary by state, following the 2022 high court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade, a historic decision that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion.
In his CBS interview, Vance was pressed about Trump’s comments to NBC News last week. Vance similarly said that people present at the press conference had difficulty hearing and understanding the question. He reiterated that the former president stands by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mifepristone to remain on the market.
“Maybe he couldn’t hear that person very clearly, so I don’t want to put words in President Trump’s mouth,” Vance said. “What he said very clearly in the debate is that he agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision, but more importantly, he wants these decisions to be made by the states.”
In a separate appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Vance was not asked about the campaign’s approach to mifepristone, but was pressed on how he would advise Trump, a Florida resident, about voting in November’s statewide referendum on the expansion. access to abortion.
After noting that Trump said decisions about abortion access should be made on a state-by-state basis, Vance said, “I’ll let Donald Trump offer his position and I’ll talk about it then.”
“What I would encourage you to do is do what you’ve done so far, which is try to find some common ground here and try to advance some pro-family policy so that people feel like they have more options,” he said. “A large part of the reason women choose to terminate a pregnancy is often because they don’t feel they have any other choice. We want to give them more options to choose to have that baby, to make it easier to raise it.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
