Presidential Debate: An analysis of their views on abortion
The questions and answers need to be more informed by history and current events
Debate moderators brought up abortion early in the match between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
Donald Trump was asked if he would ban abortion medication should he return to the White House. Here’s what he said.
First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill, and I agree with their decision to have done that. And if you look at this whole question, that you're asking– complex, but not really complex. Fifty-one years ago, you had Roe v Wade, and everybody wanted to get it back to the states. Everybody, without exception, Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, everybody wanted it back. Religious leaders. And what I did is I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court, and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v Wade and moving it back to the States. This is something that everybody wanted. Now, ten years ago or so, they started talking about how many weeks and how many this. getting into other things. But every legal scholar throughout the world, the most respected, wanted it brought back to the states. I did that. Now the states are working it out. If you look at Ohio, it was a decision that was it was an end result that was a little bit more liberal than you would have thought. Kansas, I would say the same thing. Texas is different, Florida is different, but they're all making their own decisions right now, and right now, the states control it. That's the vote of the people. Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes. And frankly, I think it's important to believe in the exceptions. Some people, you have to follow your heart. Some people don't believe in that, but I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it's very important. Some people don't. Follow your heart, but you have to get elected also, and because that has to do with other things, you got to get elected. The problem they have is they're radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month and ninth month, and even after birth, after birth. If you look at the former governor of Virginia, he was willing to do this. He said, we'll put the baby aside and we'll determine what we do with the baby, meaning we'll kill the baby. What happened is we brought it back to the States, and the country is now coming together on this issue. It's been a great thing.
Constitutional views on abortion have always been divided. I’ve read thousands of articles between 1970 and 2022 that showed that. Some criticized Justice Harry Blackmun’s reasoning and said it was never based on a constitutional right explicitly enumerated in the Constitution. Fellow Supreme Court Justice Byron White said as much in his dissenting opinion in the 7-2 vote in favor of Roe. Others thought it was prudent because it established a universal legal standard by which the country could operate.
This also ignores what much of the second wave was about or the push for the Equal Rights Amendment. Many feminists during the time of Roe wanted a federal right to abortion. They were thwarted in that effort and instead turned to the courts to advance reproductive rights. For 50 years, it was in the judiciary where abortion was fought. Insofar as the cut-off point, when abortion would be legal, that has always been something people have been divided about. It’s not new, and it predates Roe.
Left out of his response is how doctors could protect themselves from legal liability in situations where abortion was called for. As we’ve seen In Texas, many won’t perform life and health-saving care because they’re worried they could be prosecuted under the state’s abortion ban. Exceptions for rape and incest also have to be explained further. How do you ensure that those claims have merit? Do you perform the abortion if an accusation is made? Do you have to require documentation? Does the girl have to be cross-examined in a trial of the rapist or relative who violated the law?
As I’ve said, neither Republicans nor Democrats adequately explain why New York adopted its law. If they provided the reasoning behind it, refuting claims that it’s radical would be easier. They don’t want to put women in situations where they must justify the care they need.
Biden responded.
It’s been a terrible thing what you've done. The fact is that the vast majority of constitutional scholars supported Roe. When it was decided, they supported Roe. That was this idea that they were all against it..it's just ridiculous. And this is the guy who says the states should be able to have it. We're in a state where, in six weeks, you don't even know whether you're pregnant or not, but you cannot see a doctor have…and have him decide on what your circumstances are, whether you need help. The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying we're going to turn civil rights back to the states, let each state have a different role. Look, there's so many young women who have been.. including a young woman who just was murdered and he went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by an immigrant coming in. They talk about that. But here's the deal, there's a lot of young women to be raped by their by their in laws, by their, by their spouses, brothers and sisters, by or…just ridiculous, and they can do nothing about it and then try to arrest them and across state lines. Thank you.
The point about states’ rights during the civil rights movement is good. Segregationists said that it should be the Southern governors and legislatures that determine what requirements they had for voting and what legal protections and access should be permitted to people based on their skin color. Black leaders and their allies pushed for federal protections, culminating in laws protecting voting and equality that were signed by President Lyndon Johnson. The last part of Biden’s answer was rambling and didn’t make sense. That doesn’t help him with voters, as his mental competence and ability to speak at length and sensibly were significant concerns heading into this debate. I think he tried to make a point about abortion restrictions on interstate travel. But that’s happening with local municipalities passing ordinances permitting lawsuits. They aren’t being arrested, at least not yet.
Trump’s response was:
There have been many young women murdered by the same people he allows to come across our border. We have a border that's the most dangerous place anywhere in the world, considered the most dangerous place anywhere in the world. And he opened it up, and these killers are coming into our country, and they are raping and killing women, and it's a terrible thing. As far as the abortion is concerned, it is now back with the states. The states are voting. In many cases, the it's, frankly, a very liberal decision. In many cases, it's the opposite. But they're voting, and it's bringing it back to the vote of the people, which is what everybody wanted, including the founders. If they knew about this issue, which, frankly, they didn't, but they would have. Everybody wanted it brought back. Ronald Reagan wanted it brought back. He wasn't able to get it. Everybody wanted it brought back. And many presidents had tried to get it back. I was the one to do it. And again, this gives it the vote of the people, and that's where they wanted it. Every legal scholar wanted it that way.
The founding fathers didn’t directly address abortion, but there were laws in place that permitted it up to the point of the quickening, which was when fetal movement happened. An excellent book to read about this is When Abortion was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973, by Leslie Reagan. And again, many people wanted federal protections for abortion access. So, that point was not valid.
After that volley, the moderator asked Biden whether he supported any restrictions. The moderator mentioned that seven states had no restrictions at all regarding the procedure. Biden answered.
I support Roe v Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between the woman and the doctor. Second time is between the doctor and an extreme situation. The third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the woman and the state. The idea that the politicians, the founders, want the politicians to be the ones making decisions about women's health is ridiculous. That's..no politician should be making a decision. A doctor should be making those decisions. That's how it should be run. That's what you're going to do. And if I'm elected, I'm going to restore Roe v Wade.
It would be better if Biden said, “If elected, I’m going to work to codify the protections of Roe through legislation” instead of “I’m going to restore Roe,” since that isn’t something that a President can do. It has to be the Supreme Court unless the former decision is protected through congressional action and presidential approval. It’s also not a doctor’s decision whether to get an abortion. The woman’s decision is informed by the doctor’s insights and advice.
Trump then mischaracterized Biden’s position and omitted the reasoning behind the laws currently in effect in states like New York.
So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month, and even after birth. Because some states Democrat-run, take it after birth. Again, the Governor, former governor of Virginia…put the baby down so that we decide what to do with it. So he's, he's willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen, Democrat or Republican, nobody wants it to happen.
Trump’s characterization of former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was disputed by the Associated Press, which gave a clearer view of his comments. He was giving a hypothetical example of what could happen if a mother whose fetus had severe deformities or wasn’t otherwise viable and whose mother requested an abortion while in labor.
Biden stumbled in his response.
That is simply not true. The Roe v Wade does not provide for that. That's not the circumstance only a woman's life is in danger. She's going to die. That's the only circumstance, once that can happen. But we are not for late term abortion period,
Period.
It’s not a matter of being for late-term abortion. People who support legal protections for abortion later in pregnancy are not cheering for the women to have one. They simply want to create a more comfortable environment for the women who are in uncommon situations late in pregnancy that require an abortion.
Trump’s response:
Under Roe v Wade, you have late-term abortion, you can do whatever you want, depending on the state. You can do whatever you want. We don't think that's a good thing. We think it's a radical thing. We think the Democrats are the radicals, not the Republicans.
Biden’s response.
For 51 years, that was the law 51 years. Constitutional scholarship said it was the right way to go. Fifty-one years. And it was taken away because this guy puts very conservative members on the Supreme Court. He takes credit for taking it away. What's he going to do? What's he going to do? In fact, if the Maga Republicans, he gets elected, and the Maga Republicans control the Congress, and they pass a universal ban on abortion period across the board at six weeks or seven or eight or 10 weeks, something very, very conservative. Is he going to sign that bill? I'll veto it. He'll sign it.
Republicans had pushed for a national standard, which is a ban past a particular mark in pregnancy. Is this something that Trump could support? He has said on the campaign trail that he doesn’t want to pass a federal ban, and as he reiterated in the debate, thought it was a matter better left to the states.
All in all, the debate didn’t get too specific about abortion. Yes, it finally acknowledged most women get abortions through medication. But it failed to talk about the Comstock laws, which are a significant point of emphasis in Project 2025, which is the conservative manifesto that pushes for many antiabortion policies. They didn’t talk about the failures of medical boards. They didn’t discuss how exceptions were enforced or determined. They didn’t talk about the EMTALA case.
I hope journalists and politicians speak in greater depth when covering this campaign and the years ahead. Its history is complicated and requires years of study. The last few years of its evolution have been just as complicated to master in an ever-changing environment. Someone with a deep knowledge of abortion history and current events should be closer to Biden or any Democratic candidate for the presidency.