--- title: What Trump and Harris Said About Abortion at Debate description: “Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said. canonical: https://time.com/7019804/harris-trump-debate-abortion/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-09-11T02:28:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:46:37.396Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Trump and Harris Said About Abortion at the Debate og:description: Here’s what Harris and Trump said about abortion in the debate og:url: https://time.com/7019804/harris-trump-debate-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbef69ec3e73d4f6e/698a5ac616d884565cc3f122/donald-trump-kamala-harris-presidential-debate-2024-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: ABC News Hosts Second Presidential Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Trump and Harris Said About Abortion at the Debate twitter:description: Here’s what Harris and Trump said about abortion in the debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbef69ec3e73d4f6e/698a5ac616d884565cc3f122/donald-trump-kamala-harris-presidential-debate-2024-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s What Harris and Trump Said About Abortion in the 2024 Presidential Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b1ac07ec-5051-4817-9a0c-970507bedba3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here’s What Harris and Trump Said About Abortion in the 2024 Presidential Debate [Watch (HLS stream): Here’s What Harris and Trump Said About Abortion in the 2024 Presidential Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/b6JeEC4U.m3u8) (2:23)  _Published 2024-09-11. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump lambasted one another over their stances on abortion during the presidential debate Tuesday night._ by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Sep 11, 2024 2:28 AM UTC Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump lambasted one another over their stances on abortion during the presidential debate Tuesday night. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Sep 11, 2024 2:28 AM UTC Vice President [Kamala Harris](https://time.com/7009317/reintroduction-of-kamala-harris/?utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=editorial&utm%5Fterm=politics%5Felections&linkId=544645583) and former President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/) lambasted one another over their stances on abortion during the presidential debate Tuesday night. Harris pledged that if Congress passes a bill to reinstate the protections that were guaranteed by _Roe v. Wade_, she would “proudly sign it into law” if elected president. She condemned state-level abortion bans, sharing stories of pregnant women who were unable to get emergency medical care or forced to carry pregnancies to term or because of restrictive laws. She also slammed Trump for his role in the [_Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization_](https://time.com/6189476/abortion-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade/) ruling that rolled back abortion rights(Trump appointed three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of overturning the landmark decision). “Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said. Trump, who has commended the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning _Roe v. Wade,_ continued to falsely insist that most legal scholars wanted _Roe_ overturned,and that the public at large wanted the issue returned to the states. The former President railed against Democrats for their stance on abortion, claiming falselythat Democrats’ position on abortion is so extreme that they support “execution after birth.” Once he finished his remarks,ABC News moderator Linsey Davis pointed out that it is not legal to execute a baby in any state. Harris was alsoquick to call out Trump’s falsehoods. “Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening. It’s insulting to the women of America,” Harris said. It echoed much of the same rhetoric Trump used in the previous presidential debate with President Joe Biden, when he falsely said that doctors under the Biden Administration want to [“take the life of the baby in the ninth month, and even after birth.”](https://time.com/6993365/biden-trump-abortion-first-presidential-debate-2024/) Reproductive rights have [taken center stage](https://time.com/7013618/reproductive-rights-abortion-dnc/) in the 2024 election cycle: [10 states are set to vote on abortion rights](https://time.com/7018665/abortion-ballot-measures-2024/) on Nov. 5\. and Harris has made the issue a major theme of her campaign. Many polls show that Americans [largely support](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/roe-v-wade-abortion-views.html) access toabortion. Harris accused Trump of planning to authorize a national ban on abortion if he were to be re-elected—a claim Trump vehemently denied, saying that the decision should be left up to individual states. When asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban that reached his desk in a second term, Trump refused to answer, insisting it wasn’t an issue because Congress would never pass that. “For 52 years, this issue has torn our country apart,” Trump said. “I did something that nobody thought was possible.” ## Transcript They have abortion in the ninth month. They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia, the previous governor of West Virginia, not the current governor is doing an excellent job, but the governor before, he said, the baby will be born, and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we'll execute the baby. There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born. Nowhere in America. Is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening. It's insulting to the women of America. One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree. The government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body. I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about this is what people wanted pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot. She didn't want that. Her husband didn't want that. A 12 or 13-year-old survivor of incest, being forced to carry a pregnancy to term. They don't want that And I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe V Wade, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it in to law. But understand if Donald Trump were to be re elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. But there she goes again, it's a lie. I'm not signing a ban, and there's no reason to sign a ban because we've gotten what everybody wanted. Democrats, Republicans, and everybody else, and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the states. And the states are voting, and it may take a little time. But for 52 years, this issue has torn our country apart. And they wanted it back in the states, and I did something that nobody thought was possible. Individual state is voting. It's the vote of the people now. It's not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it. And the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it. 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