Over two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, former first lady Melania Trump has voiced support for women’s reproductive rights, including abortion.
Melania’s position on women’s bodily autonomy is in conflict with the presidential campaign platform of her husband, former president Donald Trump, who opposes abortion.
In a video posted Thursday advertising her new memoir, entitled Melania, she called individual freedom “a fundamental principle that I safeguard.”
Excerpts of the memoir have also seen Melania express staunch support for abortion rights.
“Without a doubt there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth,” Melania says in the short video. “Individual freedom. What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?”
One day before the teaser video was released, The Guardian shared exclusive excerpts from the memoir.
Melania wrote, “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
She continued, writing that no one should have the power to determine what a woman does with her own body.
“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body,” Melania said, according to The Guardian. “I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”
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Melania said abortion should be permitted in instances where there is danger to the life of the mother, rape or incest (as are common exceptions to state abortion bans). She also said abortion should be available when there are “severe fetal abnormalities” that may lead to stillbirth, the death of a child or its mother.
“As a community, we should embrace these common-sense standards. Again, timing matters,” she wrote.
“It’s a very straightforward concept; in fact, we are all born with a set of fundamental rights, including the right to enjoy our lives. We are all entitled to maintain a gratifying and dignified existence,” she continued. “This common-sense approach applies to a woman’s natural right to make decisions about her own body and health.”
Other excerpts also saw Melania write she has “occasional political disagreements” with her husband, namely about some aspects of Donald’s immigration policy.
Melania said regardless of her personal political beliefs, she addresses them with Donald “privately rather than publicly challenging him.”
The Trump presidential campaign has not commented publicly on Melania’s outspoken stance, or the release of her upcoming memoir.
In a dramatic, black-and-white trailer for the Melania book, the former first lady says writing the memoir was a “deeply personal, and reflective journey for me.”
“As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts,” she says. “I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth.”
Abortion rights in the U.S. have been a key election issue amid Donald’s presidential campaigning.
In June 2022, U.S. Supreme Court judges struck down Roe v. Wade, which generally protected a right to have an abortion since 1973. Three of the Supreme Court judges were selected during Donald’s presidency.
Donald has taken credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, while also stating abortion rights should be independently decided by each U.S. state.
On Tuesday, the former president said he would veto a national abortion ban if he were re-elected and faced with one.
In August, Donald said he will vote no on a Florida ballot measure that would repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban. The comment came one day after Donald voiced the opposite and said six weeks is not enough time, so he would like to repeal the ban.
The Florida ballot measure would legalize abortion until fetal viability, a term used by health-care providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue developing normally or whether a fetus might survive outside the uterus. It’s generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks, which is about six months.
Melania is scheduled for release on Oct. 8.
— with files from The Associated Press
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