In excerpt from new memoir, Melania Trump says women have the ‘right to choose’ abortion

Former first lady Melania Trump says in a self-titled memoir set to be released next week that she supports women’s autonomy and the right to control their own bodies — including abortion, if they choose, according to a report Thursday.

Her stance adds another jolt to a presidential campaign season rife with dramatic events, with Melania Trump weighing in on a topic that is a central issue in her husband’s bid for reelection.

“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy” when deciding when and whether to have children, Melania Trump writes in the book, according to an excerpt cited by The Guardian. The newspaper says it obtained an early copy of the book.

Those decisions, she said, should be based on women’s personal convictions, not on “intervention or pressure from the government,” according to the excerpt.

According to the The Guardian Melania Trump also writes:

“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.

Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

NPR has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment about Melania Trump’s writings, and is seeking independent verification of the excerpt from the book’s publisher.

Abortion has long been a key issue in U.S. political campaigns, but the 2024 race comes two years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson that found there is no constitutional right to abortion.

Democrats have used that controversial ruling as a rallying call, emphasizing that pivotal votes on the high court’s decision came from justices nominated by then-President Donald Trump.

The former president’s position on abortion has been closely analyzed as he seeks to regain the White House.

“After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone,” Trump said last year on his Truth Social platform.

But this year, Trump has seemingly sought to portray a more nuanced position on abortion, including saying that abortion laws should be left for states to decide.

As NPR’s Sarah McCammon reported after the 2022 midterm election:

“Advocates for bans on most abortions – including a wave of state laws passed in recent years that prohibit the procedure within the first several weeks – are at odds with public opinion, according to many years of polling. While most Americans support some restrictions on abortion, most support access earlier in pregnancy.”

Melania Trump’s memoir, titled Melania, has a release date of Oct. 8, by Skyhorse Publishing, with distribution by Simon & Schuster.

In its summary of the book, the publisher said of the former first lady: “She shares behind-the-scenes stories from her time in the White House, shedding light on her advocacy work and the causes close to her heart.”

The former first lady was born in Slovenia in 1970, three years before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. She moved to the U.S. in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006.