Trump says abortion should be left to the states in highly-anticipated announcement: Ex-president says there should be exceptions for rape and incest but does NOT specify a week limit

Donald Trump said abortion policy should be let up to the states as he finally revealed his stance on the highly controversial issue after teasing it for months.

The former president didn't specify a time frame in which he would support or not support abortion in the video of his highly-anticipated announcement posted on Truth Social.

Trump celebrated the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which has caused two years of debate over how abortion should be handled now at the state and federal levels.

The 77-year-old also said in the four-and-a-half minute video that he believed in exceptions for a right to terminate a pregnancy in the case of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

Donald Trump said abortion policy should be let up to the states as he finally revealed his stance after teasing it for months

Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump visited with billionaire investor John Paulson (left) and his wife his fiancé Alina de Almeida at their home in Palm Beach, Florida on April 6

'We have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,' Trump said in the video.

He also accused Democrats of believing in 'executing the baby after birth'.

Previously, Trump has suggested he would support a 15-week federal-level ban on abortion.

Speaking last month on radio show Sid & Friends in the Morning Trump confirmed some reports that he was considering proposing policies that would implement a federal ban that would allow abortion through the first trimester.

'The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I'm thinking in terms of that, and it'll come out to something that's very reasonable,' Trump said in the interview.

'But people are really — even hard-liners are agreeing, seems to be 15 weeks, seems to be a number that people are agreeing at. But I'll make that announcement at the appropriate time.'

Now, Trump dodged by throwing the issue to the states.

Those most staunchly against abortion are disappointed that Trump didn't go far enough with his policy roll-out after calling himself for years the most pro-life president in U.S. history. 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America says the group is 'deeply disappointed' in Trump's position and said giving the issue to the states 'cedes the national debate to the Democrats.

The group said it will 'work tirelessly to defeat President Biden' in November.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is one of Trump's biggest allies in the U.S. Senate – and even he says he does not agree with the former president's abortion stance.

'I respectfully disagree with President Trump's statement that abortion is a states' rights issue,' the South Carolina senator wrote in a lengthy X thread on Monday.

'The states' rights only rationale today runs contrary to an American consensus that would limit late-term abortions,' he said, claiming the ruling would not 'age' well.

Graham said: 'The science is clear – a child at fifteen weeks is well-developed and is capable of feeling pain.'

But Trump's campaign press secretary, Karline Leavitt, said that Trump giving it up to the states is a way to make sure the 'will of the people' is put into law.

'He supports the rights of states to decide on this issue,' Leavitt said in an interview with NewsMax following the announcement Monday morning.

'He wants the people to have the say,' she added. 'He wants it to be up to the will of the people. And that's exactly what the Dobbs decision did.'

Matthew Getz, a senior fellow for the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America, said it would be interesting to see if Trump changed his stance if he got significant pushback from pro-life and evangelical supporters.

He wrote on X that Trump didn't mention in his abortion announcement whether he would veto an abortion ban if it reached his desk should he win another term in 2024. He also didn't touch on the issue of access to the abortion pill mifepristone, Getz noted.

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign jumped on the announcement and posted a video where Trump previously said he was in favor of 'punishment' for women who receive abortions. 

In the video of his policy rollout, Trump also touched on in the recent controversy surrounding vitro fertilization (IVF) and expressed his support for the alternate conception method.

IVF has been at the forefront after courts in Alabama determined a fertilized egg is a life and sparked concern over the future of the procedure for couples with difficulties conceiving.

'The Republican Party should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers, fathers, and their beautiful babies,' Trump said. 'IVF is an important part of that and our great Republican Party will always be with you in your quest for the ultimate joy in life.'

Trump throws a thumbs-up while watching the 18th hole at the final round of the LIV Golf Miami tournament at his club in Doral, Florida on Sunday, April 7

After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the 6-3 conservative majority Supreme Court in 2022, several states implemented some of the most restrictive abortion laws seen in decades. 

Many credit Trump with paving the way for conservative rulings like this – and several others in recent years – after he appointed three right-leaning justices to the Supreme Court in his single four-year term. 

There were 15 states with so-called trigger laws, which activated when Roe v. Wade was no longer the law of the land and immediately essentially outlawed and criminalized abortion with some exceptions.

Many of these states have newly implemented heartbeat bills, meaning that women cannot receive and doctors cannot perform abortion services around 5-6 weeks into a pregnancy, which is usually when a heartbeat can be detected on an ultrasound.

Other states passed laws that allow for abortion within the first trimester of a pregnancy – much like the policies Trump was considering before announcing his opposition to a federal ban.