Former first lady Melania Trump writes in her soon-to-be-released memoir that a woman has the right to an abortion, The Guardian newspaper reports, while her husband Donald Trump backs the ability for US states to restrict the procedure.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” Melania Trump writes in her memoir, according to The Guardian which said it had obtained a copy.
The book is due to be published on October 8 — just four weeks before the November 5 election, in which her Republican husband is vying for the US presidency against Democrat Kamala Harris.
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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,” Melania is said to have written in the memoir.
“I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”
A spokesperson for the former first lady did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for comment.
Donald Trump had previously signalled support for a national ban on abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.
In April, he said political considerations were paramount in the first presidential election since the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade decision — ending a nearly 50-year federal right to the procedure.
Trump says abortion laws should be decided by the states and backs exceptions to a ban on abortion in the case of rape, incest and to protect the mother’s life.
Polls show the presidential election is a tight race, with seven battleground states likely to decide the outcome.
Democrats see abortion rights as a popular issue for Harris to use against Trump.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from August 21-28 found most voters, including 34 per cent of Republicans, want the next president to protect or increase abortion access.
Trump takes credit for the Supreme Court overturning the Roe vs Wade decision in 2022, which had protected a right to abortion up to about 24 to 28 weeks, because justices appointed by Trump swung the vote.