Yes, JD Vance lied about abortion, and no, you shouldn’t believe anything he or Donald Trump say about reproductive rights

J.D. Vance completely lied about his call for a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday night vice presidential debatelie declare he “never supported a national ban.” That’s completely untrue and yet another reason why no one should believe him or Donald Trump when they make promises about reproductive rights, which they would certainly cut if given the chance.

First, though, a quick fact check on Vance’s controversial claim. In 2022, while running for Senate in Ohio, Vance speak on a podcast, “I definitely want abortion to be illegal nationwide.” Also in that campaign, Mr stated on his website to show the world that he is “100% pro-life” and that he supports “eliminating abortion.” In fact, those words remained on Vance’s website until July of this year, when Trump announced the senator as his running mate.

Then there’s Trump, who all the hats shouted to his social media followers last night: “EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND IN FACT WOULD HAVE TO RIGHT IT, BECAUSE THE STATES DECIDE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE WILL OF THEIR VOTERS (THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!). LIKE RONALD REAGAN BEFORE ME, I FULLY SUPPORT THE THREE EXCEPTIONS FOR LUST, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER.”

There are many reasons why no one should believe anything Trump says, including him something that cannot be fixed liar. Especially regarding abortion, it would be wise to have a lot of skepticism because of the man frequent boast about killing Roe v. Wade, this should inspire utter distrust of his alleged plan to veto a federal abortion ban.

But there’s also the matter of the very sneaky way Trump, Vance and other Republicans have taken to talking about the abortion ban. Is a supporter of abortion rights Jessica Valenti Have in writing“Republicans know abortion bans are very unpopular, so they came up with this cheap rhetorical trick to fool voters,” in which they claim not to support a ban but “a standard minimum”. In this context, “prohibited” means no abortion at any time for any reason, while the latter could mean no abortion after six weeks – which of course would is a ban on abortion. For example, when asked in an interview about Sen Lindsey GrahamVance’s proposed 15-week abortion ban emphasize it is not a ban at all but a “federal minimum standard.” As Valenti wrote after the debate: “Vance adopted a redefinition of the anti-abortion ‘ban,’ which said that the term meant a prohibition on abortion in all circumstances, even if the life of the woman women are in danger. By this definition, there is no ban on abortion in America! That change gives Republicans a lot of political cover: For example, when Donald Trump says he will veto a federal abortion ban, that simply means he will veto an unexceptional ban on women’s lives.