Salt Lake City, UT - Today, Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis released the following statement on Donald Trump’s abortion statement: 

“Donald Trump said it himself: Trump is ‘proudly the person responsible’ for  overturning Roe v. Wade and the extreme abortion bans across the country like Utah’s Trigger Ban that, if allowed to take effect, will put women’s lives at risk, threaten doctors with prosecution for doing their jobs, and jeopardize access to fertility treatments for families trying to get pregnant. It is because of Donald Trump that Utahns are currently suffering from an 18-week-abortion ban, and it is because of Donald Trump that Utah’s Republican Politicians are trying to interfere with the personal medical decisions of Utah families. 

Thanks to the hard work of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the ACLU of Utah, Utah’s courts have temporarily blocked our state’s inhumane near-total abortion ban. However, as Utahns who value medical freedom, we must remain wary of another Trump presidency. People living in states with near-total abortion bans like Utah’s trigger ban have faced medical complications, financial burdens, and criminal and civil prosecution, all because they tried to access medically-necessary reproductive healthcare. This has not stopped Trump or the Republican party from further oppressing the ability of families to access the full range of reproductive health services: Trump has repeatedly bragged about cruelly involving the government in personal reproductive health decisions across the country and even said women should be punished for seeking reproductive health care. Make no mistake: These inhumane and dangerous bans aren’t enough for Trump, and his extreme MAGA allies are pushing a plan that would allow him to rip away access to reproductive care in every single state, including Utah, with or without Congress. 

With so much at stake this November, Utahns know that President Biden and Vice President Harris are the only candidates who support the right to choose and will protect their freedoms.” 

Trump is bragging about ending Roe v. Wade, and he would sign a national abortion ban if it came to his desk: 

- Without Trump ending Roe v. Wade, Utahns would not be living under constant threat of a near-total abortion ban, nor would Utah’s 18-week-ban be in effect. 

- Trump has repeatedly boasted that he’s “killed” reproductive freedom, saying proudly, “I'm the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade.”

- Trump claims credit for every extreme abortion ban passed thanks to his work in overturning Roe v. Wade, and said he was “proud” to have terminated abortion rights. 

- Trump has long supported a nationwide abortion ban, even saying in a speech to his MAGA supporters that “there of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life. And it’s very important.”

- Trump and MAGA Republicans want to roll back reproductive freedoms even further. Trump has even gone so far as to call for punishing women who have abortions. 

Trump’s MAGA allies are planning to ban abortion in all 50 states, with or without Congress.