Trump, Vance and GOP struggle to address abortion issues

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : "Trump, Coughlin said, wants to "jettison his legacy, which he can't jettison. ...
44% : Trump and Vance, she said, "have made it abundantly clear that under their administration, abortion policy will be set at the state level, and every woman in America will have access to IVF."
42% : Trump and the GOP, they say, are determined to take away Americans' rights -- whether by limiting the availability of books, restricting what can be taught in schools or intervening in private medical decisions.
40% : "He's handled abortion so poorly this election -- I wasn't surprised," said antiabortion activist Abby Johnson, who spoke in support of Trump at the Republican convention in 2020 but this year does not want to endorse him.
30% : A day later, however, after conservative backlash, Trump said he would actually vote "no" on the measure so that the six-week limit would remain.
30% : Trump said he believes that would allow abortions too late in a woman's pregnancy, though he said he also thinks people "need more time" than six weeks.
27% : Trump in particular faces the reality that while he touts his role in the Dobbs decision, that ruling is broadly unpopular.
27% : In response, Trump has called abortion a matter for states to decide and removed some antiabortion language from the GOP platform.
26% : Trump has boasted of appointing three justices to the Supreme Court that cemented the majority behind the June 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe.Led by Trump, Republicans in competitive races are rushing to frame abortion as a states' rights matter, hoping to convince voters that the issue is not truly on the ballot this year.
24% : Trump has sought to moderate his position but carries the baggage of helping to overturn Roe, the landmark abortion rights case, and this week he opposed an abortion rights measure in Florida after months of equivocating.
19% : And this week, Trump criticized a six-week abortion ban in his home state of Florida as too strict, suggesting he might vote for a November ballot measure that would overturn it.
14% : Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokeswoman, echoed that Trump "has been very clear" that he views abortion as a state issue.
13% : In her most recent campaign stop, in Savannah, Ga., Harris warned that Trump would sign a national abortion ban -- even though his campaign says he would not -- and emphasized his role in ending Roe, saying his Supreme Court appointees paved the way for a "Trump abortion ban" in many states.

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