Trump is stealing DeWine’s losing playbook
Blog | July 9, 2024
In a new op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch, Abortion Forward Executive Director Kellie Copeland called out Donald Trump for four specific lies on abortion in the first 2024 Presidential Debate.
First, Trump claimed to support exceptions in abortion bans for rape and incest. Copeland countered:
When a politician tells us what his policy position is, then his actions in office need to match it. Did Trump ever push for these exceptions as president? No. Did Trump ever ask Congress for a bill to write these exceptions into federal law? No. Republicans controlled the US House and Senate while Trump was president, but these exceptions he claims to believe in were never sent to his desk, and he never asked for them to be proposed. His actions don’t back up his words.
Second, Trump claimed that ending Roe and sending the decision on abortion to the states was universally supported. Copeland said:
Roe was never perfect. There were a lot of Americans who suffered under inadequate abortion policies under Roe. But what an overwhelming majority of Americans did, and still do, want is for a uniform federal law to protect everyone’s right and ability to access abortion care. The state-by-state patchwork of varying abortion laws is a terrible outcome of Trump’s meddling.
Third, Trump claimed “the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill.” They did not. Copeland corrected:
The case he references was rejected 9-0 because it was improperly filed, which is wholly different than nine members of the US Supreme Court writing an opinion supporting access to abortion medication. The abortion pill he’s talking about is Mifepristone, which is safe, effective, and has been approved by the FDA for decades.
Finally, Trump pointed to Ohio — the bastard pointed to us?!?! — as an example of a state taking action to justify his position. Copeland responded:
Trump referred to Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative campaign as having “an end result that was a little bit more liberal than you would have thought.” In fact, it was not more liberal than we expected. Polling results always showed Ohioans, and Americans in general, want to keep government out of their personal, private medical decisions, including choices about abortion.
In fact, 19 Ohio counties that went for Trump in 2020 actually supported the abortion rights ballot initiative that he opposed. No one wants what Trump and the Republican Party have been pushing, which is why they’re starting to change their tune, but the new song they’re singing isn’t popular with their base, so expect conflict in the weeks ahead.
