|
|
Donald Trump on Abortion2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President |
TRUMP: As far as Planned Parenthood is concerned, I'm pro-life. I'm totally against abortion, having to do with Planned Parenthood. But millions and millions of women -- cervical cancer, breast cancer -- are helped by Planned Parenthood. So you can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood that are helped greatly. And I wouldn't fund it. I would defund it because of the abortion factor, which they say is 3 percent. I don't know what percentage it is. They say it's 3%. But I would defund it, because I'm pro-life. But millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood.
TRUMP: You are the biggest liar. Today, we had robo-calls saying. "Donald Trump is not going to run in South Carolina," -- where I'm leading by a lot." I'm not going to vote for Ted Cruz. This guy will say anything, nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of his colleagues.
CRUZ: You said, "Planned Parenthood does wonderful things and we should not defund it."
TRUMP: It does do wonderful things but not as it relates to abortion. There are wonderful things having to do with women's health, but not when it comes to abortion.
TRUMP:˙I do not want to say that because I want to show unpredictability. You have to.˙You can't just go around and say that. But Planned Parenthood should absolutely be defunded. I mean if you look at what's going on with that, it's terrible.˙And many of the things should be defunded and many things should be cut.
TRUMP:I don't know--but it's possible. I give to so many organizations over the years. Hundreds of millions of dollars, so I really don't know. But look, Planned Parenthood has to stop with the abortions. A lot of people consider it an abortion clinic. I think those tapes that I saw were outrageous and disgusting by any standpoint. And they have to stop.
Q: So you would not shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding?
TRUMP: I wouldn't fund it if they have abortion going on. Now, you hear all different numbers. They say it's 3%, other people say it's 85%. That's a big difference. So I'd certainly look into it.
Q: But would you shut down the government over this dispute?
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Aug 16, 2015
TRUMP: I've evolved on many issues over the years. And you know who else has? Is Ronald Reagan evolved on many issues. And I am pro-life. And if you look at the question, I was in business. They asked me a question as to pro-life or choice. And I said if you let [that quoted excerpt] run, that I hate the concept of abortion. I hate the concept of abortion. And then since then, I've very much evolved. And what happened is friends of mine years ago were going to have a child, and it was going to be aborted. And it wasn't aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child. And I saw that. And I saw other instances. And I am very, very proud to say that I am pro-life.
Describing himself as "pro-life," Trump told Bloomberg News in January that he believes abortion should be banned at some point in pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother. In 2011 he explained to the Christian Broadcasting Network that he had changed his mind on the issue. In "The America We Deserve," Trump then wrote that he supported a woman's right to choose.
Trump said he's undecided on the controversial science and he wants to investigate it further before formulating an official position. He also appeared to recognize the controversial nature of embryonic stem cell research by assuring the newspaper he has not funded it in his business enterprises.
"I would say that I'd like to get back to you because I'm studying it very closely," Trump said. "It's an issue, don't forget, that as a businessman I've never been involved in."
As the 2012 race intensifies, pro-life advocates must call upon Donald Trump to further explain his stand on important pro-life issues like Supreme Court nominations and repeal of the pro-abortion Obama healthcare law.
A: One thing about me, I'm a very honorable guy. I'm pro-life, but I changed my view a number of years ago. One of the primary reasons I changed [was] a friend of mine's wife was pregnant, and he didn't really want the baby. He was crying as he was telling me the story. He ends up having the baby and the baby is the apple of his eye. It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to him. And you know here's a baby that wasn't going to be let into life. And I heard this, and some other stories, and I am pro-life.
Q: So those stories did change you, they came around and changed you?
A: They changed me. Yeah, they changed my view as to that, absolutely.
In his CPAC speech, Trump sounded many themes popular with Republican conservatives. "I am pro-life," he said. "I am against gun control."
And in one of his biggest applause lines, Trump vowed to end the nation's health care law: "I will fight to end Obamacare and replace it with something that makes sense for