Trump has criticized US abortion laws as among the most permissive in the world in a speech to anti-abortion activists at the rally in Washington, DC, and pledged his administration would always defend the ‘right to life.’
Trump appearsed to have forgotten an appearance on the Howard Stern show in 2004, in which he can be heard telling the talk-show host that he asked Maples to have an abortion, according to tapes then leaked to Newsweek from the Howard Stern Show, reports Daily Mail.
Trump said that when Maples told him, he asked her: “Excuse me? I didn’t know about this?”
Later, when Stern pressed him for more details about his relationship with Melania and asked if he would “push her down the stairs” if the same thing happened in this relationship, he said he wanted Tiffany to be “taken care of.”
“Honestly, I’m glad it happened. I have a great little daughter, Tiffany,” he can be heard saying in the tapes.
“But, at the time, it was like, ‘Excuse me, what happened?’And then I said, ‘Well, what are we going to do about this?'”
Though he doesn’t directly mention abortion in the tapes, it is clear that he thought there was more than one option in dealing with the pregnancy and that his preferred option would be abortion.
After giving his speech at the March For Life rally, a number of people took to Twitter to remind him of the interview – with many calling him a hypocrite.
Trump’s speech was relayed via video link from the White House Rose Garden to thousands gathered on Washington’s National Mall and highlighted his shift in recent years from a supporter of women’s access to abortion to a powerful opponent.
Trump tripped over his tongue at a key moment in his landmark nine-minute speech, complaining about American laws that allow late-term fetuses to be “born” – not “torn.”
“Right now, in a number of states,” he said, “the laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mother’s womb in the ninth month. It is wrong. It has to change.”
“As you all know, Roe v. Wade has resulted in some of the most permissive abortion laws anywhere in the world,” he said, criticizing the 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion at most stages of a pregnancy.
Trump said the United States “is one of only seven countries to allow elective late-term abortions,” mentioning China and North Korea.
The other countries that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks are Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Vietnam, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion research group.
In the speech, Trump listed some anti-abortion measures his administration had taken, including an announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier in the day.
The agency said it was revoking the Obama administration’s legal guidance that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood.
Roe v. Wade effectively legalized abortion nationwide. In the 45 years since the decision was issued on Jan. 22, 1973, the March for Life has been staged near the ruling’s anniversary in protest.
“Because of you, tens of thousands of Americans have been born and reached their full, God-given potential,” Trump, a Christian, told the marchers, who included many groups of students from Roman Catholic schools.
The event came a day before the first anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, a milestone that was marked by the second Women’s March in cities across the United States, including Washington.
