During Tuesday’s debate, former President Trump sought to delineate his and other Republicans’ pro-life viewpoints with that of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, while sparring with moderator Linsey Davis.
Davis asked, ‘Why should [Americans] trust” him on the abortion issue when he has changed his view on some aspects of it at times.
In response, Trump said Democrats have been “radical” on the issue, while Republicans have sought to bring the issue “back to the states” in supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Trump claimed comments from former Virginia Gov. Ralph S. Northam seem to prove it is Democrats, not Republicans, who hold extreme views on the issue.
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While appearing to accidentally refer to Northam as the previous governor of West Virginia, who would be Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin, Trump said the opposition party wants to allow abortions into the ninth month of gestation and even after birth.
“Look at [Northam], not the current governor who is doing an excellent job, but the governor before him, who said, ‘The baby will be born, and we will decide what to do with the baby.’ In other words, we’ll execute the baby,” Trump said.
In 2019, Northam was interviewed by Washington, D.C., radio station WTOP and was asked about a bill from Delegate Kathy Tran, D-Springfield, that loosened Virginia abortion restrictions.
Northam was asked to explain a comment Tran made in a committee hearing regarding a woman being permitted to undergo an abortion while in labor.
“This is why decisions such as this should be made by providers, physicians and the mothers and fathers that are involved. When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physician — more than one physician, by the way — and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities,” he said.
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Northam, who was also a pediatrician in Onancock, Va., added that if a mother is in labor, the infant would “be delivered [and] kept comfortable.”
“The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
In the debate, Trump said Northam’s comments show Democrats are the true “radicals” on the abortion issue, while Republicans have fought to return the issue to states, where people can vote on the leniency or strictness of abortion policy in their area.
Trump said most Republicans support exceptions to abortion bans for life of the mother or rape or incest.
He noted Republicans’ success in having abortion policy returned to state houses has actually led to several red states passing otherwise lenient abortion policies, pointing to referendums in Ohio and Kansas.
“The vote [in Ohio] was somewhat liberal,” Trump said.
However, Davis cut in after Trump finished his response and said, “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
Heritage Foundation religion fellow Delano Squires shared clips of both Tran and Northam speaking about the late-term abortion policy, sarcastically captioning it, “no one supports abortion in the ninth month.”
“This is how extreme they are,” tweeted Rob Smith, a conservative commentator.
Dozens of others on X posted the same video of Northam speaking to WTOP in attempts to debunk Davis’ retort or make Trump’s case.
