Former first lady Melania Trump’s decision to come out as a staunch supporter of reproductive rights could have the effect of softening her husband’s image on abortion, something the former president sought to do as the issue has emerged as a potential game changer in the presidential race.
The former first lady writes in her new memoir that it’s “imperative to guarantee” that women have the autonomy to decide their preference on having children “based on their own convictions.”
The revelation in the book, to be released Tuesday, might have more to do with Melania Trump’s own brand than the presidential cycle.
But it also provides an opportunity for the Trump campaign to try to convince voters that he won’t be an extremist on abortion in office — even after seeing three of his confirmed Supreme Court justices vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, which eviscerated abortion rights in a number of states.
In a video posted on social media to promote the book, Melania Trump said “there is no room for compromise when it comes to” individual freedom.
“What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?” the former first lady asks in the video.
The former president told Fox News on Thursday that he and his wife spoke about her comments on abortion before they were published.
“I said ‘you have to stick with your heart.’ I’ve said that to everybody, you have to go with your heart,” Trump said. “There are some people that are very, very far right on the issue, meaning without exceptions, and then there are other people that view it a little bit differently than that.”
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump has tried, with mixed success, to moderate on the issue of abortion in a bid to win over voters uneasy with the restrictions on the procedure put in place in GOP-led states across the country.
He has said he supports exceptions to allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is in jeopardy and attacked Democrats as “radical” on the issue. Trump initially refused to say whether he would veto a national abortion ban as president, but this week he announced he would veto such a law if it came to his desk.
Trump has also called it a “beautiful thing to watch” as patchwork abortion bans are put in place nationwide, leading to numerous stories of women unable to get reproductive health care without crossing state lines.
Some viewed the messaging from Melania Trump as a calculated play to promote her book and soften her husband’s image as he has struggled to win over women voters in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“It’s October and Melania Trump finally emerges from her cocoon to become a women’s rights advocate?” Elise Jordan, a former George W. Bush aide and Trump critic, said on MSNBC. “This is very transparent, and no one believes that Melania Trump cares about anything other than Melania Trump.”
Underscoring the degree to which abortion has divided some conservatives, the former first lady’s comments prompted criticism from leaders of the anti-abortion movement.
“The women of America are capable of great strength and creativity. They are naturally inclined to speak for those who are powerless. Abortion is not the source of their freedom and liberation,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.
Lila Rose, another prominent anti-abortion activist, called Melania Trump’s views on abortion “functionally the same exact position” as Vice President Harris.
Melania Trump’s move isn’t uncommon for Republican women.
She joins a long line of GOP first ladies who have come out for abortion rights, following the likes of former first ladies Laura Bush, Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan, according to The Washington Post.
But those former first ladies voiced their support for abortion rights after their husbands left office. Melania’s husband is a month away from an election that could put him in office for four more years.
Anita McBride, former chief of staff to Laura Bush, noted the tradition of former first ladies backing abortion rights and argued Melania Trump’s move is more likely to anger the anti-abortion movement than to help gain more support for Trump.
“This is not the first time a first lady has differed from her husband’s position on an issue — in this case first ladies back to Pat Nixon supported abortion rights,” McBride said.
“Not sure this will sway voters or increase numbers joining the party, but will surely annoy pro-life activists who are already disappointed in Donald Trump’s own responses to questions about abortion rights,” she said.
But the Harris campaign, in response to Melania Trump’s announcement, said Trump firmly disagrees with his wife. His appointments of the three Supreme Court justices, it suggested, had taken away abortion rights from many American women in the wake of the court’s actions.
“Sadly for the women across America, Mrs. Trump’s husband firmly disagrees with her and is the reason that more than one in three American women live under a Trump Abortion Ban that threatens their health, their freedom, and their lives,” Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said. “Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear: If he wins in November, he will ban abortion nationwide, punish women, and restrict women’s access to reproductive health care.”
