In the spring, Donald Trump raised a few eyebrows by confirming — out loud, on camera, and on the record — that he was “looking at” possible restrictions on contraception. The former president eventually walked that back, but not before he created an opportunity that Democrats are already exploiting.
In the summer, he’s doing it again.
At his long, meandering press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump began by assuring the public that voters don’t much care about reproductive rights — a line Republicans have clung to in recent years, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — before lying about the Democratic agenda in deeply ugly ways.
All of which set the stage for the pièce de resistance. NBC News reported:
During a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday, former President Donald Trump would not rule out revoking access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortions. “You could do things that .... would supplement — absolutely — those things are pretty open and humane,” Trump said in response to a question from NBC News about whether he would take steps like directing the Food and Drug Administration to revoke access to mifepristone.
The GOP nominee went on to argue that there are “many things on a humane basis that you can do outside of that.”
The audio in the clip isn’t great, but NBC News’ Garrett Haake posted a written transcript of the exchange online, which reinforces the fact that Trump didn’t appear to have any idea what he was talking about. In fact, all things considered, it’s reasonable to wonder whether the former president has any idea what mifepristone is.
For those unfamiliar with the medication — a group that apparently includes the Republican nominee — the FDA approved it nearly a quarter of a century ago, to be used as part of a two-step process to terminate unwanted pregnancies up to 10 weeks. The drug has proven to be safe, effective, and commonly used.
A notorious Trump-appointed judge in Texas curtailed access to the drug, though he was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, many on the right still harbor hopes that the Republican, in a second term, might enforce the Comstock Act, which prohibits the mailing of drugs used for abortions by mail. Indeed, all of this is part of the right-wing Project 2025 agenda, written in large part by members of Team Trump.
It was against this backdrop that the GOP candidate left the door wide open to revoking access to the medication during the Q&A at Mar-a-Lago.
Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez wasted little time in seizing on the comments from the press conference.
“Already, women across the country are suffering because of the nightmare Donald Trump unleashed by overturning Roe v. Wade,” she said. “That reality — women forced to the brink of death before receiving the care they need, doctors facing the threat of jail time for doing their jobs, and survivors of rape and incest made to flee their states for basic health care — will only get worse if Donald Trump wins and wipes out access to medication abortion.”