Former President Trump said Wednesday that it was “a beautiful thing to see” as individual states passed patchwork abortion laws, some more restrictive than others, and suggested it could unify the country, even as Democrats use the issue to increase participation in elections.
Trump was asked in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity about the issues Democrats hope to focus on in the November elections, including abortion.
Reproductive rights have been at the forefront politically in the two years since the Supreme Court’s conservative majority put an end to Roe v. Wade. Wade, with some states enshrining the right to abortion and others enacting restrictive laws that effectively ban the procedure.
“Now the states are deciding. And by the way, in many cases, like Ohio, it has become … more liberal or progressive than people could have imagined,” Trump told Hannity. “But the people of Ohio decided. The people of Kansas decided. The people are now deciding.
“And it took this off the shoulders of the federal government. They always wanted this to be decided by the states. And Roe v. Wade didn’t do that. It put it on the federal government,” he continued. “So now the states are voting on this. And in many cases, it’s more… liberal. In many cases, not in all cases. In some cases, they’re going the other direction. But people are deciding. The people are deciding. And in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”
Trump is credited with ending Roe v. Wade. Wade through the appointment of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court and attacked Democrats as “the radicals” on the abortion issue for not supporting limits on late-term abortions.
“All states are deciding now. And I think it’s working the way people wanted it to work,” Trump said. “And it will unite the country on an issue that was very, very bad.”
Trump has taken the position that abortion policy should be left to the discretion of states through legislation or voter referenda, as GOP-led states enact restrictive policies. But that provoked attacks, including from some on the right who expressed disappointment that the former president was not adopting a federal minimum standard for abortion.
Biden’s campaign has repeatedly linked Trump to state-level bans and highlighted the stories of women who faced life-threatening health problems and were unable to receive treatment because of those bans or had to travel out of state to get care.
“Tonight in prime time, America saw Donald Trump consumed with rage and visibly shaken following his felony conviction; a man who has clearly broken out and whose candidacy is becoming more dangerous by the day,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement. after the interview with Hannity aired.
“This is why the American people voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump to begin with, and this is why Trump will never be able to return to the Oval Office,” he added.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
