Melania Trump 'passionately defends abortion rights' in new memoir - breaking ranks with husband Donald's campaign
3 October 2024, 09:41 | Updated: 3 October 2024, 10:47
Melania Trump has defended abortion rights in her upcoming memoir, appearing to break ranks with her husband former President Donald Trump's election campaign policies.
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Ms Trump wrote that she was a passionate supporter of a woman’s right to control her own body, The Guardian reported, which says it has seen a copy of the book ahead of its publication next week.
The former First Lady wrote: "It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government."
The statement from Ms Trump - who has rarely expressed political views in public - comes just a month before the US Presidential election where reproductive rights have played a central role so far.
Her views appear to break away from her Republican nominee husband's apparent policies. The ex-president previously said he backs states to decide their own abortion laws and supports exceptions to a ban in the case of rape, incest or danger to the mother's life.
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Three supreme court justices installed under Donald Trump's presidency also voted to strike down Roe v Wade, a ruling which had protected federal abortion rights since 1973.
Donald Trump has also tried to take credit for the decision made in Dobbs v Jackson, which evangelical and conservative Catholic supporters of the Republican Party have long aimed to see abolished.
In other instances he has also sought to shy away from the controversial decision to avoid fury that it stoked, claiming abortion rights should be decided by the states.
Laying out her position in the memoir entitled Melania, she reportedly wrote: "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."
Ms Trump has been mostly absent from much of Donald Trump's presidential campaign so far.
She previously teased the explosive memoir with a dramatic video, promising to reveal "the truth" and "never before seen" details of her life with her husband.
The book is billed as "a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence".
The book will be released under Skyhorse Publishing, which has also published pieces by prominent supporters of Donald Trump, including former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and attorney Alan Dershowitz
"Writing this memoir has been a deeply personal and reflective journey for me," she said in a video posted to her social media accounts last month.
"As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts. I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth."
Ms Trump's office says the memoir will be available in two versions, a $150 "collector’s edition" and a "Memoir Edition", 304 pages long, including 48 pages of never-before-seen photographs.
The book is listed at $40, with signed editions going for $75. The book is listed online at $40, with signed editions going for $75.
