Trump says he would veto national abortion ban as issue threatens his campaign

(This story was updated to add a video.)

With abortion concerns continuing to weigh on his campaign, former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would veto a national abortion ban if one crossed his desk as president, and his running mate JD Vance said the GOP needs to “earn people’s trust” on the issue.

Many states have passed strict new limits on abortion since a Supreme Court remade by Trump appointees overturned Roe v Wade, the decades-old decision protecting abortion rights.

Trump has praised the ruling, saying the issue should be left to the states, but has also sought to reassure voters concerned about new restrictions. Trump said during a debate last month that he would not sign a national abortion ban, but repeatedly refused to say whether he’d veto one.

After the abortion issue came up again during the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Trump declared on Truth Social that “EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT.”

Abortion has proven a thorny issue for Trump, who has tried to distance himself from more extreme elements of his party as polls show most voters support abortion rights. He has been forced to backtrack at times, though, after backlash from the right, as when he came out recently against a ballot measure in Florida protecting abortion rights.

Vance also sought to soften the GOP’s image on abortion during Tuesday's debate. He conceded his party has a trust problem when it comes to the issue.

Vance cited the story of a woman who is “very dear to me” who told him “a couple years ago that she felt like if she hadn’t had that abortion that it would have destroyed her life because she was in an abusive relationship.”

“I think that what I take from that, as a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the vulnerable, is that my party we’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly just don’t trust us,” Vance said.

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He went on to argue that he and Trump are doing that by promoting pro-family policies, such as fertility treatments and helping families financially. He also defended Trump’s position that abortion regulation should be left up to the states.

Democratic candidate for vice president Tim Walz said that leaving abortion up to the states has put pregnant women at risk, citing the case of Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died after a long delay in getting a procedure to clear fetal tissue from her body that hadn’t been fully expelled after she took abortion bills, according to ProPublica. A medical panel ruled Thurman’s death was “preventable.”

Walz said Thurman’s death is the result of a basic right being “determined by geography.”

“I agree with you, Amber Thurman should still be alive,” Vance said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump says he'd veto abortion ban as he struggles with issue