In her forthcoming self-titled memoir, Melania Trump espouses an unflinching belief in abortion rights — a view on one of the biggest issues of the election that is entirely antithetical to that of her husband and her political party.
In reviewing an early copy of her book, The Guardian reports that Melania Trump says it is “imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy” in deciding whether to have children, “free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body,” she adds.
On Thursday morning, she also posted a video to social media that references her position on abortion rights. “Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom,” Melania Trump says in the video. “What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?”
According to the Guardian, Melania Trump’s book acknowledges the extreme circumstances in which some people make such decisions, including rape, incest or severe medical conditions in the fetus. But she also defends abortion access later in a pregnancy, which her husband has repeatedly demonized and misrepresented as a “radical” Democratic view.
She writes:
It is important to note that historically, most abortions conducted during the later stages of pregnancy were the result of severe fetal abnormalities that probably would have led to the death or stillbirth of the child. Perhaps even the death of the mother. These cases were extremely rare and typically occurred after several consultations between the woman and her doctor. As a community, we should embrace these common-sense standards. Again, timing matters.”
The former first lady’s revelation is astonishing, given how out of step she is with her party, and in light of her husband’s singular role in rolling back the right that she professes is essential to women “from birth.”
And the timing of her declaration is no less circumspect: Melania Trump chose not reveal that she is pro-abortion when Roe v. Wade was overturned, or after Republican legislatures imposed draconian state abortion bans, which have caused preventable deaths and forced women to travel out of their states for the procedure. Rather, her apparently unwavering belief in abortion rights comes just ahead of a closely contested election in which Republicans are trying desperately to rebrand their extreme abortion views — and in a memoir she is selling for upwards of $40.