The primary presidential debate of the 2024 election 12 months has left many citizens feeling disheartened after each candidates didn’t reply key questions on points associated to little one care prices, immigration and reproductive rights.
Although its onerous to pinpoint only one second that left voters feeling hopeless, solutions about abortion rights have been significantly egregious with Donald Trump sharing falsehoods and President Joe Biden dropping the ball throughout what ought to have been a simple win for him.
Arguably one of the harmful items of misinformation shared by Trump in the course of the debate was his declare that Democrats help abortions after delivery. He stated: “The issue they’ve is that they’re radical as a result of they are going to take the life of a kid within the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after delivery, after delivery.”
No state within the US has handed a regulation that enables infanticide, which stays criminalized throughout the US. Republicans and anti-abortion activists usually resort to arguments just like the one Trump made or to utilizing the phrase “late-term abortions” which is essentially based mostly on a fable.
Lower than 1% of abortions within the US are carried out at or previous 21 weeks, these sorts of medical abortions primarily happen resulting from fetal abnormalities or lack of entry to care earlier in being pregnant.
The previous president and convicted felon additionally claimed “everyone” needed to overturn Roe v. Wade and alleged that “the nation is now coming collectively on this subject.”
Anybody who noticed the hundreds of Individuals who took to the road in protest after the Supreme Courtroom voted to overturn Roe in 2022 is aware of that it’s actually not true that “everyone” supported the ruling. A survey performed by Axios and Ipsos in March 2024 discovered that 72% of Individuals — together with 51% of Republicans — stated they’re in favor of individuals acquiring abortions tablets from their medical doctors or clinics to terminate being pregnant.
As for whether or not the nation is coming collectively on the difficulty, up to now this 12 months the Supreme Courtroom has heard two abortion circumstances — one associated to emergency medical abortions and one associated to entry to the abortion tablet, mifepristone — proving the difficulty is most undoubtedly not settled on a nationwide stage.
One other of Trump’s false claims was that he alleged the Supreme Courtroom “authorised the abortion tablet.” It didn’t. Whereas it was a small reduction for a lot of to listen to Trump state that he wouldn’t block mifepristone if he have been to get again into workplace, he did muddle insurance policies barely in his claims.
The Supreme Courtroom didn’t “approve” it they merely dominated in opposition to a problem to mifepristone entry, based on Axios, however didn’t to rule on the substance which can go away open the door for future challenges. The transfer was win for pro-choice activist however nonetheless speaks to this nation’s precarious reproductive healthcare legal guidelines.
On the Democratic facet, Biden didn’t knock down Trump’s false claims. Biden did condemn the Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of Roe v. Wade however two years after the actual fact, the condemnation feels futile. He didn’t level out Trump’s lack of consistency on his abortion stance or debunk his lies. Nonetheless, for these searching for to guard and regain reproductive freedom, the choice of who to vote for stays clear even with Biden’s lackluster response.
Earlier than you go, click on right here to see the largest presidential scandals in US Historical past.