Donald Trump denies support for restrictions on contraception; Joe Biden allies disagree

WASHINGTON - Former President Donald Trump denied Tuesday that he might back restrictions on contraception, hours after Democrats attacked him over equivocal comments suggesting he would be open to the idea.

"I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives," Trump said on his Truth Social website.

Earlier, asked by an interviewer with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh whether he supports any restrictions on a person's right to contraception, Trump replied: "We’re looking at that, and I'm going to have a policy on that very shortly and I think it’s something you’ll find interesting ... We’ll be releasing it very soon."

President Joe Biden's campaign highlighted the comment, saying Trump and his allies want to restrict contraception the way they have restricted abortion rights.

“Women across the country are already suffering from Donald Trump’s post-Roe nightmare," said Biden-Harris senior spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. "And if he wins a second term, it’s clear he wants to go even further by restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives."

In his interview, Trump did not specifically say he would push for any potential restrictions on contraception. He said his campaign would soon release a policy on the abortion drug mifepristone, which is currently the subject of a Supreme Court case.

The Biden campaign on Tuesday posted clips from Trump's interview.

When asked if he may support some restrictions like the "morning-after pill," Trump said that "things really do have a lot to do with the states and some states are going to have different policies than others."

After a string of attacks from Democrats, Trump accused his opponents of spreading "misinformation/disinformation."

The presumptive Republican 2024 nominee has also struggled with the abortion rights issue.

Trump has said states should set their own abortion policies, not the federal government.

In making that argument, Trump has warned Republicans that the abortion issue could hurt him and them in the November election, most recently at the National Rifle Association convention on Saturday in Dallas.

Earlier this year, Trump criticized an Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened the use of in vitro fertilization, citing the political risks of that policy.

Democrats have pointed out that, when Trump has said states should pass abortion laws, that means that he supports efforts by Florida and other states to ban the procedure after only six weeks of pregnancy, except in rare circumstances.

A similar dynamic may be happening with the contraception issue, Trump opponents said.

"It’s not enough for Trump that women’s lives are being put at risk, doctors are being threatened with jail time, and extreme bans are being enacted with no exceptions for rape or incest," Chitika said. "He wants to rip away our freedom to access birth control too."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump denies support for contraception bans; Biden allies disagree