Former President Donald Trump signaled in an interview that he's open to some restrictions on birth control, saying he will soon release a policy on the issue.
In an interview airing Tuesday with political analyst Jon Delano on KDKA-TV of Pittsburgh, Trump was asked whether he supports any restrictions on a person's right to contraception.
"We’re looking at that, and I'm going to have a policy on that very shortly, and I think it’s something you’ll find interesting," Trump said. "I think it’s a smart decision. We’ll be releasing it very soon."
Asked whether that means he may want to support some restrictions, Trump said, "You know, also, things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others."
Later Tuesday, Trump said in all capital letters on his Truth Social website that he had "never, and will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control." He added, also in all caps, "I do not support a ban on birth control and neither with the Republican party."
The Biden-Harris presidential campaign posted clips from the TV interview on X, and spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement, “Women across the country are already suffering from Donald Trump’s post-Roe nightmare, and if he wins a second term, it’s clear he wants to go even further by restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives."
She added: "It’s not enough for Trump that women’s lives are being put at risk, doctors are being threatened with jail time, and extreme bans are being enacted with no exceptions for rape or incest. He wants to rip away our freedom to access birth control too."
Reached for comment Tuesday, a Trump campaign official said that in the same interview, Trump said he "would be making his announcement regarding mifepristone in the near future," referring to one of the two drugs used for medication abortions whose fates are in the hands of the Supreme Court. He also claimed that "President Trump has never advocated for restrictions on contraceptives."
While it appears Trump himself has not advocated for restrictions on birth control, his administration placed some limits on contraception access. For example, the Trump administration issued a regulation to expand the kinds of employers who can remove birth control coverage based on religious or moral objections. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the regulation could remain.
In the interview Tuesday, Trump also cheered the Supreme Court's decision to roll back the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which became a reality after he appointed three conservative justices to the court.
