(CNN) – Former first lady Melania Trump said in a new video released Thursday that she believes there is “no room for compromise” when it comes to women’s “individual freedom,” after The Guardian published excerpts from her upcoming book in the which says it supports the right to abortion “free from any government intervention or pressure.”
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom. “What does my body, my choice, really mean?” said the former first lady in a video posted on X.
Her defense of the right to abortion confronts her with her husband’s position almost a month before the elections. Donald Trump often takes credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, which stripped away federal protections for abortion and led to severe restrictions on the procedure in largely Republican-run states. However, the former president has said he would veto a federal abortion ban if elected again and that the issue should be left to each state’s legislature.
CNN asked the Trump campaign for comment on the former first lady’s recent video.
Melania Trump has been virtually absent from the election campaign amid her husband’s third bid for the White House and has kept a low profile, except for posting several videos on social media in recent weeks to promote her book. whose publication is scheduled for next week. The video the former first lady posted Thursday includes a link to pre-order her book.
The former first lady writes in her book: “Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right to individual freedom, to her own life, gives her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes,” according to The Guardian.
The former president, for his part, has vacillated on abortion rights throughout his campaign, struggling at times to navigate an issue that has been politically sensitive for Republicans in the post-Roe era. He recently said he would not support a ballot measure to expand abortion access in his home state of Florida, just 24 hours after suggesting he might do so. He has also proclaimed himself a “protector” of women, stating that Americans will not “think about abortion” if he is elected.
Although the former president has boasted of having appointed three conservative justices to the United States Supreme Court who voted with the majority to overturn Roe, he has publicly acknowledged that the issue has not been a winner for Republicans who advocate for strict bans and has underlined its support for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger.
Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats, for their part, have redoubled their efforts to place abortion at the center of their speech to women in key states, pointing to the state restrictions that have made possible, in part, Trump’s election for the Supreme Court. Harris has enjoyed a clear lead on this issue, helping boost her lead among female voters nationally and in swing states.
“Unfortunately for women across America, Mrs. Trump’s husband does not agree with her at all and is the reason more than one in three American women live under Trump’s abortion ban, which threatens their health, their freedom and their lives,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika told CNN on Thursday.
Melania Trump is not the first former Republican first lady to speak out in favor of abortion rights. Laura Bush, wife of former President George W. Bush, said before her husband took office that I didn’t believe that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Later, in a interview given to CNN In 2010, after her husband left office, she declared that she was in favor of abortion remaining legal. His mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, wife of former President George HW Bush, spoke out against for abortion to be included in the 1992 Republican Party platform, saying it was a “personal issue.”
– CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
