Trump falsely claims mothers are legally allowed to execute babies

Donald Trump has flip-flopped over many issues, but perhaps none more so than abortion.

In the past, he described himself as “very pro-choice”. But since entering politics as a Republican, Trump’s stance on the issue has markedly changed.

And during a rambling campaign rally speech at Wisconsin on Saturday, he made one of his most controversial comments on the subject to date, falsely claiming that newborn babies are being legally “executed”.

To a chorus of boos, he said:

The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby, they wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby.

Trump’s comments were directed at Wisconsin’s Democrat governor Tony Evers – who, earlier this year, vetoed a Republican bill that would have required doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive after failed abortion attempts.

But that is an extremely rare occurrence with only one per cent of abortions in Wisconsin occurring after 20 weeks in 2017, according to state health statistics. Over 80 per cent of abortions in the state occur before 12 weeks.

Trump has made similar comments before. During his State of the Union address he claimed that “lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth”.

Trump’s comments resulted in a wave of Twitter backlash, with many highlighting how dangerous the president’s comments are to women and clinics that provide reproductive health care.

HT Mother Jones