Here are some photos of JD Vance at an event in Washington on Monday. Even though the photos were taken from a distance, I can tell that he spackled on the eyeliner. Anyway, in the final weeks of the election, it feels notable that Donald Trump can’t stick with a consistent message about reproductive rights. It seemingly depends on who Trump is speaking to and which way the wind is blowing on the day. Meanwhile, Vance has already appointed himself the messenger of Trump’s “real” feelings on reproductive rights. Vance has said previously that women should be banned from traveling out of state to seek abortions. He has previously said that he supports a federal abortion ban. And now, big surprise, he’s saying that a second Trump term would mean a total defunding of Planned Parenthood.
Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, confirmed to reporters Saturday that former President Donald Trump is “consistent” in his views on defunding Planned Parenthood. A journalist asked Vance, R-Ohio, whether a future Trump administration would defund Planned Parenthood, the reproductive health care group that has garnered opposition from many conservatives for its pro-abortion-rights positions.
“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,” Vance said after Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”
In 2021, 93.5% of abortions were done at or before 13 weeks’ gestation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this year. About 5.7% of abortions were done between 14 and 20 weeks, and 0.9% were performed at or beyond 21 weeks.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for further comment Sunday night.
Jenny Lawson, executive director of the organization’s super political action committee, Planned Parenthood Votes, said in a statement Monday morning that a Trump administration move to defund the group’s health centers “would rob millions of people across the country of vital, affordable care.”
“As usual, he is spinning tall tales to make his case,” Lawson said said of Vance. “Here’s the truth: Federal funds cannot be used to provide abortion care at any point in pregnancy — but Planned Parenthood health centers do use federal funds to provide cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and many other essential reproductive health care services. ‘Defunding’ Planned Parenthood would only deepen and expand the public health crisis we’re already in thanks to Donald Trump, causing more people to suffer and die for lack of basic reproductive care.”
For the millionth time, “late-term abortions” are almost always done because the life of the mother is at risk or because there’s something fatally wrong with the fetus. Sometimes, when a woman miscarries months into a pregnancy, she needs a D&C and that is sometimes called an abortion or an abortive measure. The point being, these are medical issues and it should be between a woman and her doctor, not JD Vance and his creepy Cabbage Patch face. Make no mistake, it’s not just that they wanted a complete and total national ban on abortion. They do not want women to have reproductive care, birth control, cancer screenings or health care whatsoever.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.