Donald Trump is not a policy wonk. He never has been, and he never will be. Most of his supporters don’t care. That’s not why he became a fan favorite of Republicans in 2016.
But when it comes to abortion and birth control, details matter. Right now, Trump is trying to perform a political acrobatic act — simultaneously taking credit for getting rid of Roe v. Wade while basically saying he has nothing to do with the aftermath.
Asked specifically on Tuesday whether he supported restrictions on a person’s right to contraception, Trump seemed open to limits on birth control.
“We’re looking at that,” Trump said in an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station. “I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly.”
One of Trump’s default replies to reporters is that he will release a plan soon, often using his ”two weeks” answer — like his repeatedly unfulfilled promise to unveil a replacement for Barack Obama’s health care law in ”two weeks.”
As one might expect, Trump’s answer on birth control quickly created a furor. And Trump responded as only Trump can.
“I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website, a few hours after he opened the door to exactly that.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, Democrats have been warning that Republicans would try to restrict birth control, in vitro fertilization and more, at both the state and federal levels.
“They were never going to stop at banning abortion,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Tuesday.
To put Republicans on the record, Senate Democrats may try in June to force a vote on a bill that gives people the right to birth control.
Back in 2022, House Democrats held a similar vote — and only eight Republicans voted for that measure, which was approved on a vote of 228-195.
When the Supreme Court dismantled Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas made very clear that he also wanted to revisit the landmark Griswold case, a 1965 ruling that said states could not limit birth control for married couples.
By the time the first presidential debate arrives in Atlanta on June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court may have weighed in on two abortion cases from this term — one on the abortion drug mifepristone and the other on strict abortion limits in Idaho.
Maybe by then, Trump will have a more specific answer on birth control.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com.
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