Why is Melania Trump defending abortion rights, a stance at odds with her husband?

Melania Trump, former United States first lady, has come out in support of abortion rights, in contrast to her husband Donald Trump’s position. In her forthcoming memoir, she has reportedly defended abortion rights, which has emerged as a key issue in the November’s US presidential elections.

In a short video promoting her book, the former US president’s wife expressed support for “individual freedom”, calling it an “essential right that all women possess from birth”. “Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom. What does my body, my choice really mean?” Melania said in the clip posted on X on Thursday (October 3).

https://t.co/ZCTwZSqZND pic.twitter.com/Y9MT3uj97b

— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) October 3, 2024

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The revelation comes at a time when her husband and Republican presidential nominee Trump has softened his stance on abortion, trying to convince voters to trust him to protect women’s rights on the issue.

Let’s take a closer look.

What does Melania Trump’s book say?

According to The Guardian report, Melania Trump declared she supports abortion rights “free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”

“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 apparently wrote in her memoir that will release next week.

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“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.

“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life,” Melania wrote, as per The Guardian.

She also defended late-term abortions, saying they are “extremely rare.” The former first lady wrote that they are mostly “the result of severe foetal abnormalities that probably would have led to the death or stillbirth of the child.”

These views put her at odds with Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Democrats, describing them as “radicals”, for supporting late-term abortions.

According to The Washington Post report, in the presidential debate with US Vice President Kamala Harris last month, the Republican asked the moderators, “You should ask, will she allow abortion in the eighth month, ninth month, seventh month?”

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Trump said he had discussed with his wife about including her support for abortion rights in the memoir, telling her to “write what you believe.”

“We spoke about it, and I said, ‘You have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell what you to do. You have to write what you believe,’” he said. “She is very beloved. People love our former first lady. I can tell you that. But I said, ‘You have to stick with your heart.’ I’ve said that to everybody, you have to go with your heart. There are some people very, very far right on the issue, meaning without exceptions, and then there are other people that view it a little bit differently than that,” he said.

Reacting to the purported excerpts from Melania’s book, Sarafina Chitika, a spokeswoman for the Harris-Walz campaign told BBC, “Sadly for the women across America, Mrs Trump’s husband firmly disagrees with her and is the reason that more than one in three American women live under a Trump Abortion Ban that threatens their health, their freedom, and their lives.”

What’s behind Melania Trump’s abortion defence?

Melania’s pro-choice stance has come as a surprise. The timing of the revelation of her support for abortion rights has been questioned as the US will elect its new president in just a month. Polls show Harris and Trump engaged in a neck-and-neck contest.

Thus, this move by Melania, who has largely stayed away from her husband’s presidential campaign, to publicly declare her pro-choice views is being seen as a political one.

Journalist Kate Andersen Brower told BBC she was “shocked” by the former first lady’s “diametrically opposed” comments to her husband’s stance.

“So shocked that I wanted to check it was real. She’s very much been in line with her husband, so on this issue how did she spend all those years watching him derail something that she seems to care about?” she asked.

Melania’s remarks have come to light at a time when her husband is seeking re-election.
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility that this was done intentionally to come out right before the election, because it could appeal to those swing state voters who are upset about the overturning of Roe v Wade. Maybe they could see this as a sign that he [Trump] perhaps is softening on abortion,” Brower added.

Melania’s revelation could be intended to sway voters in swing states, who are yet undecided whom to vote for.

Harris has put abortion rights at the centre of her campaign, which has helped her win the favour of women nationally and in swing states, as per CNN. So, the timing of the former first lady’s defence of abortion rights assumes all the more importance when her husband’s campaign is trying to create an image of the Republican leader being a “protector” of women.

But not everyone thinks this will work. Tresa Undem, a pollster who has surveyed people on abortion for over 20 years, told The Guardian that the chance of Melania’s remarks luring moderates or abortion-backing conservatives was “fairly slim”.

Moreover, it does not seem she has much influence on her husband’s policies, as per the British newspaper.

Some believe Melania’s comments are just a ploy to sell her book and nothing more.
According to The Washington Post, the “most likely” explanation behind her pro-choice view is that “Melania Trump actually believes in abortion rights, and she’s using her stance not as a political strategy but a strategy to sell books.”

What Melania’s remarks seem to have done is anger anti-abortion activists, who are some of Trump’s most loyal supporters.

“Melania Trump’s support of abortion is anti-feminist and clearly outside the teaching of our Catholic faith. She is wrong,” Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life organisation Students for Life of America, posted on X. “What a lost opportunity to inspire a generation of young women.”

She added: “I won’t be buying Melania’s book.”

Other Republican ex-first ladies to back abortion

Melania Trump is not the first Republican former first lady to back abortion rights.

In 1975, the then First Lady Betty Ford called the Roe v Wade ruling “great, great decision”.

After President Ronald Reagan left office, his wife Nancy Reagan declared publicly she “believed in a woman’s choice”.

Laura Bush, ex-President George W Bush’s wife, said before her husband entered the White House that she did not think that Roe v Wade should be overturned.

In a 2010 interview, after her husband had left the office, Laura said, “I think it’s important that it remain legal, because I think it’s important for people, for medical reasons and other reasons”.

Donald Trump’s inconsistency on abortion

From claiming to be “pro-choice” to taking credit for the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, Trump’s abortion stance has shifted many times.

In an October 1999 interview, Trump, as quoted by NBC News, said, “I am very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. … I just believe in choice.”

By February 2011, the Republican leader was “pro-life”. When Trump came to power in the US, his administration gave priority to cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood, which offers abortion care.

During his GOP bid in 2016, he said there should be “some form of punishment” for those seeking abortion.

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, with the three justices appointed by Trump voting to void it. Hailing the verdict, Trump told Fox News at the time that “God made the decision”.

“This brings everything back to the states, where it has always belonged,” he added.

Since then, several conservative states have toughened their abortion laws. Republicans have suffered electorally, while Democrats have gained due to the abortion rights issue. After the GOP’s midterm election losses, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social last year, “It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms. It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.”

Trump, who has taken credit for helping overturn Roe v Wade, is now taking a cautious approach. While Harris has alleged he will sign a national abortion ban if re-elected, the former president has denied it.

In fact, earlier this week, Trump claimed he would veto any national abortion ban. It is to be seen if swing voters will be convinced.

With inputs from agencies