AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Former President Trump appears to be trying to soften his image on reproductive rights as he campaigns for president. Several of Trump's recent comments on abortion and the procedure IVF are raising concerns among some abortion rights opponents who've supported him. NPR political correspondent Sarah McCammon has been following this and joins us now. Hi, Sarah.
SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so how would you encapsulate Trump's message on reproductive rights at this moment?
MCCAMMON: Look, Republicans know that reproductive rights could be a liability for them with voters this November. Democrats are pointing out that Trump is largely responsible for the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to all kinds of new restrictions. And Trump knows that, too. He's made several statements about abortion recently that seemed to - designed to, you know, mitigate that kind of fallout. And then campaigning in Michigan yesterday, he announced a proposal to fund the fertility procedure called IVF.
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DONALD TRUMP: That under the Trump administration, your government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women, IVF treatment...
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TRUMP: ...Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.
MCCAMMON: Now, in vitro fertilization is an expensive procedure.
CHANG: Yeah.
MCCAMMON: It can cost tens of thousands of dollars. And that's a surprising statement from Trump for a couple reasons. One is that some abortion rights opponents want to restrict IVF because it often involves the destruction of embryos.
CHANG: And it sounds like Trump's supporting government-mandated healthcare coverage. Like, that's a new message - right? - for him?
MCCAMMON: Right. I mean, you remember the Affordable Care Act, which passed under President Obama, how Republicans fought hard against that.
CHANG: Yeah.
MCCAMMON: And one particularly controversial piece is the contraceptive mandate which requires insurance coverage for birth control. A lot of socially conservative groups opposed that for religious or moral reasons. And the Trump administration sided with them and used regulations to weaken some of those requirements.
CHANG: So interesting. OK, that's IVF. What is Trump saying now about abortion?
MCCAMMON: So during an NBC interview yesterday, Trump was asked about a ballot measure in Florida, where he, of course, is a resident. Right now most abortions are illegal there after about six weeks of pregnancy, and a measure before voters would protect access until fetal viability. Here is what Trump told NBC yesterday when he was asked about this.
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TRUMP: I think the six-week is too short. It has to be more time, and so that's - and I've told them that I want more weeks.
MCCAMMON: And he seemed to indicate that he was open to voting for the abortion rights measure, but his campaign quickly came out with a statement saying, no, he didn't say how he'd vote, only that six weeks is too early. And now, Ailsa, he's telling Fox News he would vote no. So his messaging on this has been really mixed.
CHANG: And how are abortion rights opponents responding to all of this?
MCCAMMON: Well, there's been a lot of concern, including from groups like SBA Pro-Life America, who've been instrumental in rallying anti-abortion activists behind Trump. Last night, the group's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said that she'd talked with Trump, and he had, quote, "not committed" to how he will vote. Today, in a post on X, she thanked him for saying he will vote no. Lila Rose, an anti-abortion activist and podcaster, told me earlier today that Trump needed to change course or risk losing voters like her. She too is thanking Trump for taking this position against the abortion rights amendment.
CHANG: And what is the Harris campaign saying to characterize what's happening here?
MCCAMMON: Well, they're pointing to Trump's past positions on abortion. They're noting that the new Republican platform contains language suggesting that embryos have constitutional rights. That's an idea that could jeopardize access to various types of reproductive healthcare. And the Harris campaign is kicking off a bus tour next week focused on reproductive rights with the goal of reinforcing that message.
CHANG: That is NPR's Sarah McCammon. Thank you so much, Sarah.
MCCAMMON: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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