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FACT CHECK: Donald Trump Doesn’t Think Women Should Have Access To Abortion

For Immediate Release: Feb. 16, 2016


Washington, DC –– This morning on ABC’s This Week, Ted Cruz tried to portray Donald Trump as a moderate when it comes to reproductive health and rights. But just last night, in the  GOP debate, Donald Trump reaffirmed that he doesn’t believe women should have access to abortion --- saying that he “draw[s] the line” when it comes access to safe, legal abortion. What are the facts?

Fact Check: Donald Trump’s Stance on Women’s Health and Rights is Virtually Indistinguishable from his GOP Colleagues’:

Donald Trump wants to ban access to safe, legal abortion:​

  • Trump said that since Roe v. Wade was decided, we’ve been “sliding toward a culture of death”: “Over time, our culture of life in this country has started sliding toward a culture of death. Perhaps the most significant piece of evidence to support this assertion is that since Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court 43 years ago, over 50 million Americans never had the chance to enjoy the opportunities offered by this country.” [Washington Examiner, 1/23/16]

  • Wants to ban safe and legal abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and for the life of the woman. [YouTube: Bloomberg Business, 1/24/15]

  • “I’m pro-life. I think that's a big social issue.’’  [National Journal, 2/15/11]

  • When asked on Meet the Press about health exceptions for women seeking an abortion, Trump said: “My statement on that happens to be, you know, if the mother will die. And you're going to know that. And the problem with the life: If you say life, what does life mean? You have a cold and you're going to end up having an abortion.” [Washington Post, 8/17/15]

  • Opposes overturning the Hyde Amendment: “Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.”  [Washington Examiner, 1/23/16]

Donald Trump wants to cut insurance coverage of birth control

  • Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act: As reported by the Daily Caller, in his book Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again,  Trump promises he would kill the Affordable Care Act with the stroke of a pen on his first day in office if he were president. [Daily Caller, 1/15/14]

  • Would repeal ACA in favor of system called ‘Donaldcare’ but won’t offer specifics on what the health care alternative would be:“The blustering billionaire also swore to repeal Obamacare in favor of a new system called ‘Donaldcare,’ but offered no details about what this new health care system would entail.” [The New York Daily News, 9/15/15]

  • Said ACA has “gotta go”: “Trump said that the Affordable Care Act has ‘gotta go’ and that he would repeal the law and replace it with ‘something terrific.’  (Trump added that he’d ‘work out some sort of a really smart deal with hospitals across the country,’ to provide care for poor Americans.)” [Forbes, 7/31/15]

Donald Trump wants to cut access to care at Planned Parenthood

  • Said he would support a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding: “Asked directly by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt if it’s worth shutting down the federal government to strip Planned Parenthood’s $528 million in government funding, Trump replied: ‘I would.’ And Trump blamed Cruz’s colleagues for abandoning him during the fight to defund Obamacare two years ago. ‘If the Republicans stuck together you could have done it with Obamacare also, but the Republicans decided not to stick together and they left a few people out there like Ted Cruz,’ Trump said. ‘If they had stuck together they would have won that battle. I think you have to in this case [on Planned Parenthood] also, yes.’” [POLITICO, 8/4/15]

  • Trump: “I don’t know” if Planned Parenthood smear videos were edited: Despite multiple news stories and independent video forensic experts proving that the smear videos against Planned Parenthood were edited, Trump was asked Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, whether if bothered him that the smear videos against Planned Parenthood were edited. Todd asked, “Does it bother you that they were edited?” and Trump’s response was, “Well, I don’t know about them being edited.” [Washington Post, 8/17/15]

  • Called Planned Parenthood an “abortion factory”: “The problem that I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation. It is like an abortion factory, frankly. And you can’t have it. And you just shouldn’t be funding it. That should not be funded by the government, and I feel strongly about that.” [National Review, 8/11/15]

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