Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, proudly professes her support for abortion and a woman’s right to choose in her forthcoming memoir, according to The Guardian.
Several of Melania’s strongest pro-choice excerpts were published by the newspaper, which obtained a copy of the book, on Wednesday.
“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 of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes,” the former first lady writes.
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“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”
The report comes just hours after Melania’s husband confirmed for the first time that, if re-elected to the White House, he would veto a national abortion ban.
Trump previously sidestepped the question, saying at last month’s presidential debate that he hadn’t discussed the matter with his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who’d previously claimed that the former president would veto a federal ban.
At the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris also said, “Understand, if Donald Trump were to be reelected, he will sign a national abortion ban.”
Trump shot back that was a “lie,” and there was no reason to sign a ban “because we’ve gotten what everybody wanted.”
He leaned into that line of argument in an all-caps Truth Social post on Tuesday night, saying that the question of abortion was “up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters (the will of the people!)”
At the end of August, Trump also said that he would personally vote “no” to repealing Florida’s restrictive six-week abortion ban—an upcoming ballot measure that Melania, as The Guardian pointed out, seems poised to vote “yes” on.
“I have always believed it is critical for people to take care of themselves first,” Melania writes in Melania. “It’s a very straightforward concept; in fact, we are all born with a set of fundamental rights, including the right to enjoy our lives. We are all entitled to maintain a gratifying and dignified existence.
“This common-sense approach applies to a woman’s natural right to make decisions about her own body and health.”
In Melania, Melania outlines several “legitimate reasons” for pregnant patients to seek abortions, including rape, incest, danger to the life of the mother, and congenital birth defects, according to The Guardian.
She also acknowledges that many “opt for abortions due to personal medical concerns,” and appeals to the reader for compassion and understanding.
“Our next generation,” she implores, “must be provided with knowledge, security, safety, and solace, and the cultural stigma associated with abortion must be lifted.”
Her stance is a pointed break from that of many in the Republican Party, although the official party platform hews closer to Trump’s leave-it-to-the-states position.
The platform, released this summer, saw the party drop its long-standing support for broad federal restrictions on abortion, infuriating anti-abortion advocates who attacked the new language as watered down.
The same advocates, however, were pleased at the inclusion of language linking abortion to the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, suggesting that future courts could yet expand the legal concept of fetal personhood.
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, around half of U.S. states have introduced bans or restrictions on abortion, with 13 states passing so-called trigger bans prior to the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that took effect immediately after.
Though nominally tight-lipped about her personal life and political views, Melania has opened up—to a point—in recent interviews pegged to her book, which is slated to hit shelves Oct. 8.
Late last month, she said on Fox & Friends that her husband would have liked to have more children after they welcomed Barron in 2006, a year after they wed.
“I was always perfectly fine with one. And Donald was encouraging to have more,” she said. “And I said, like, ‘I’m completely fine with one because it’s [a] very busy life.’”
Melania called the couple’s set-up “just perfect.”
