Donald Trump Falsely Claims Roe v. Wade Permitted Women to 'Kill the Baby After Birth'

In a recent discussion with Fox News host Sean Hannity, former President Donald Trump made a startling claim about abortion. Hannity mentioned the impact of abortion on Republican losses in the 2022 midterms, to which Trump responded by discussing his stance on IVF and abortion.

During a Thursday interview with Fox News Hannity, Trump expressed his disapproval of the recent Alabama court decision that declared frozen embryos to be the legal equivalent of infants, but he also hinted that he would be open to the idea of a federal ban beyond 15 weeks. In the course of their conversation, Trump propagated an incorrect belief about post-pregnancy abortions that is frequently held by conservatives, as per Newsweek.

Speaking with Trump over Republican defeats in the 2022 midterm elections, Hannity stated, "The issue of abortion, I think it played a very big part. They demagogued that issue in 2022, in the midterm, and I think it hurt Republicans." Then Hannity questioned, "You took a strong stand on IVF. Where are you on that, and what is your message to other candidates, and where are you on abortion?" "So I saw the IVF and a judge in Alabama made a very harsh decision," Trump retorted. "It was very, very tough, and I came out immediately and I said we want to help women," Trump said.

The former President remarked, "We want that, we want people to help, we are on the side of women," to Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), before continuing, "Same thing on the abortion issue. The abortion issue, now, I’m for the exceptions like Ronald Reagan was for the exceptions." "I think it's a very important thing the exceptions," he declared. "I also think that they are the radicals, because they will kill the baby in eight months, nine months. Under Roe v. Wade, they had the right to kill the baby after birth. I mean, literally, after birth in some cases.” Hannity retorted, "That was the governor of Virginia at the time," regarding the controversial statements made by former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in favor of late-term abortions, as per Mediaite.

According to CBS News, Virginia's governor, Democrat Ralph Northam, issued a statement that read, "Republicans in Virginia and across the country are trying to play politics with women's health, and that is exactly why these decisions belong between a woman and her physician, not legislators, most of whom are men." Following remarks he made in support of a vetoed Virginia measure that would have legalized abortions up until childbirth, Northam faced criticism in 2019.

Trump also made up a story the next year claiming that Northam killed a newborn, as per the same Mediaite article. Trump also claimed, in an outburst directed at President Joe Biden, "He endorsed a governor of Virginia who not only executed a baby, late-term abortion, but executed a baby because the baby can be born and then you can kill the baby."