Trump’s latest waffling on reproductive health shows he’s still struggling to find an answer for what he created

Months after Donald Trump declared the debate over reproductive rights in America settled, the former president is still straining to navigate the new era of post-Roe politics that he helped create.

Months after Donald Trump declared the debate over reproductive rights in America settled, the former president is still straining to navigate the new era of post-Roe politics that he helped create. The latest display of his unease came Thursday, when the former president infuriated religious conservatives with an inartful attempt to sidestep questions about a Florida referendum that will decide the future of abortion access in his home state. The campaign quickly clarified in a statement that Trump had not, in fact, picked a side. Later that day, surrounded by steel and machinery inside a Michigan warehouse, Trump abruptly detoured from remarks on manufacturing to offer women a new incentive to vote for him: a promise for universal coverage of in vitro fertilization if he is elected. But senators in his own party, including his running mate, JD Vance, had defeated a bill with a similar provision earlier this summer. Trump, whose ever-evolving views on reproductive health have traversed every side of the debate, has long expressed concerns about the political fallout from the 2022 Supreme Court decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion. Though he has sought credit for installing the three conservative justices that tipped the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, Trump earlier this year said future questions about access should be left to the states. But that position, intended to end the conversation, has done anything but, and Trump has strained to appease activists in his party as he stares down an electorate that remains overwhelmingly troubled by the current state of abortion access in many GOP-led states. A new survey from Quinnipiac University found 55% of voters think Vice President Kamala Harris is better equipped to tackle the issue, compared with 38% for Trump. Meanwhile, nearly 7 in 10 voters focused on abortion favor Harris over Trump, according to a recent CBS News poll conducted by YouGov. Democrats, newly enthused by Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket, have doubled down on putting abortion at the center of their pitch to women in key states. The Democratic National Convention earlier this month featured emotional stories of women who couldn’t access potentially life-saving care when their pregnancies took a turn for the worse. On Friday, Harris’ campaign announced the launch of a 50-stop bus tour — starting in Trump’s backyard of Palm Beach, Florida — focused on reproductive health care.