Reproductive Rights Groups Call Out Trump’s Lies Ahead of FOX News Town Hall for Women

Washington, D.C. — Today, voters will see Donald Trump lie about his stance on reproductive rights and other women’s issues during a FOX News town hall with an audience of all women. Trump has not changed his extremist agenda and views, but he has increasingly become aware that his policy stances are deeply out-of-touch with the vast majority of the American people and that he can’t win this election without lying to voters.

Abortion is now the most important issue to young women voters and a record-high number of Americans say they will only vote for a candidate who shares their view on the issue — leaving Donald Trump desperate to cover up his long, anti-abortion record.

Leaders from reproductive rights groups EMILYs List, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Reproductive Freedom for All released the following statements.

Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List, said:

“Let’s call this charade what it is: a last-ditch attempt to deceive voters. Donald Trump is the architect of the crisis we’re living in today. He repeatedly takes credit for overturning Roe and inciting the draconian abortion bans that are ruining lives across the country. It’s an insult to women everywhere that he thinks they’ll fall for his bogus attempt to rebrand on abortion. With our rights under fire, we’ve never been more proud to support Kamala Harris, a tireless advocate for women.”

Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, said:

“Donald Trump will do anything for power, including peddle wild and disturbing lies. He knows that his horrendous record on reproductive freedoms is hurting him at the polls, so he’s making a pathetic, last-ditch attempt to mislead women into believing that he will stand up for their interests. Kamala Harris is the only presidential candidate in this race who will protect women and fight for abortion rights and access – and it is imperative we elect her in November.”

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said:

“While we can only guess what new spin or ‘weave’ Donald Trump will offer women today, there’s at least one thing we know for sure: he cannot be trusted — not with our bodies, our lives, or our futures. Trump’s actions as president showed us better than he could ever tell us in any town hall, interview, or tweet. Women will never forget that he made it his mission to attack reproductive health care, doing everything from jeopardizing access to birth control and cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers, to orchestrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which he called ‘a beautiful thing to watch.’ Now, we must make it our mission to ensure Trump, JD Vance, and the rest of their cronies aren’t afforded the power to do it again — and voters will do exactly that at the ballot box.”

Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said: 

“Donald Trump is responsible for the end of Roe v. Wade and continues to brag about it, saying that abortion bans are a ‘beautiful thing.’ He knows he’s losing, so he’ll say anything to hide his record. Don’t pay attention to what Donald Trump says, but what he’s done. If he is elected in November, he will do everything he can to ban abortion as well as IVF and contraception.”

More on Donald Trump’s anti-choice and anti-women record:

• Supported a federal abortion ban bill while president.
• Endorsed national abortion restrictions, including a pledge to support a federal abortion ban.
• Bragged repeatedly about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
• Proudly took credit for all abortion bans.
• Thinks people who seek abortions should be punished and said states should be allowed to prosecute women for abortions.
• Named “the most pro-life president in our nation’s history,” by anti-abortion extremist group SBA List.
• Said Republican state legislatures were working “brilliantly” to restrict access to abortion.
• Believed the federal government played an “important” and “vital” role in restricting abortion.
• Nominated three Supreme Court justices that voted to strike down Roe v. Wade and said abortion would be a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees.
• Aggressively touted his anti-abortion agenda while president.
• Said he was open to supporting regulations on contraception.
• Dismantled federal programs and requirements intended to ensure contraceptive access while president.
• Issued a regulation allowing employers to refuse to provide no-cost contraception coverage as previously required under the Affordable Care Act.
• Trusts Republican extremists across states to lead on IVF access and restrictions.
• Revoked protections against workplace sexual harassment, sexual assault, discrimination, and pay disparities while president.
• Rescinded campus sexual assault guidelines and narrowed the definition of sexual harassment.
• Defended employers who pay mothers less than men and called pregnancy an “inconvenience” for employers.

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EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.

The NWLC Action Fund’s mission is to educate and engage voters on critical issues that impact women and girls, especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. We drive progressive change at the local, state, and federal levels, and hold our elected officials accountable for removing barriers to gender justice.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.

For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.