Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance on Sunday tried to retract recent comments from former President Donald Trump suggests that it is open to banning access to mifepristoneone of two drugs used in medical abortions.
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 has said very clearly is that abortion policy should be done by the states, right? You certainly want to make sure that any medication is safe and properly prescribed, etc.”
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 the abortion issue out of the culture war.”
Asked by NBC News At a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago resort last week, Trump said of whether he would take steps such as revoking access to mifepristone to the FDA: “You can do things that will … complement — absolutely — those things are pretty open and humane.”
“You should vote too,” the former president told people on abortion.
Trump’s comments on Thursday contradicted his views on the abortion pill CNN discussion in June to which he said he “wouldn’t block it”.
Carolyn Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, later clarified to NBC News that Trump has long “supported states’ rights to make abortion decisions.” Leavitt also noted that the questions during the press conference were “difficult to hear” and that Trump had not changed his position on mifepristone, saying “the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on the issue and the issue is settled.”
Supreme Court in June unanimously approved access to mifepristonea group rejects the call of an anti-abortion doctor. However, laws covering access to medicine varies by state Roe v. the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision guaranteeing the constitutional right to abortion. After its decision overturning Wade.
In an interview with CBS, Vance pressed Trump’s statements to NBC News last week. Vance similarly said at the press conference that people had a hard time hearing and understanding the question. He reiterated that the former president stood by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mifepristone to remain on the market.
“Maybe he didn’t hear that person very clearly, so I don’t want to put words in President Trump’s mouth,” Vance said. “He said very clearly in the debate that he agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision, but more importantly, he wants those 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 pressed Trump, a Florida resident, on how to advise him on how to vote in the polls. November referendum on expanding access to abortion in the state.
Noting that Trump has said decisions on abortion access should be made at the state level, Vance said, “I’ll let Donald Trump offer his position and I’ll talk about it after that.”
“I would encourage him to do what he’s been doing, which is to try to find common ground here and try to develop pro-family policies so that people feel they have more choices,” he said. “Many of the reasons women choose to terminate a pregnancy are often because they feel they have no other choice. We want to give them more options to choose to have that baby, to make it easier to raise that baby.”