By Laura Doan
/ CBS News
Candidates talk economy, abortion at debate
Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed during Tuesday night’s presidential debate that Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, supports the “execution” of babies after they are born, repeating earlier false assertions that Democrats support killing babies.
The Republican nominee made the claim when ABC moderator Linsey Davis asked why he changed his position to support Florida’s six-week abortion ban.
“Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth — it’s execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born — is OK,” Trump said.
Infanticide is illegal in every state, and Harris and Walz have never supported it. Here’s what we know about the claim and where Harris and Walz stand on abortion.
A history of false claims
Trump has a history of falsely claiming that Democrats support killing babies after birth. At a recent rally in Charlotte, Trump said Harris supports abortion “right up until birth, and even after birth.”
During the debate, Trump repeated a similar claim. At different points, he referenced the “former governor of Virginia” and the “former governor of West Virginia,” who, Trump asserted, “said we put the baby aside and then we determine what we want to do with the baby.”
Trump appeared to be talking about former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat and a physician, who gave a 2019 radio interview in which he discussed a hypothetical scenario in which a fetus has severe deformities or is not viable outside the womb. In such a case, Northam said, “the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired.”
The comments sparked fierce backlash from Republicans, including then-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, who accused Northam of supporting “born-alive abortions.” In response, Northam said, “I have devoted my life to caring for children and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting.”
Walz and Harris on abortion
Vice President Harris has supported restoring the standards of Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion until the fetus reaches viability outside the womb, typically at around six months of gestation. The Biden-Harris administration endorsed the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, which would have prevented states from banning abortions before viability or requiring additional tests or waiting periods, though the legislation did not pass the Senate.
In recent interviews on “Face the Nation,” both Harris and Walz declined to give specifics about how far into a pregnancy they believe abortions should be permitted.
Asked about it during the debate, Harris said: “I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade. And as you rightly mentioned, nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening.”
As governor, Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act (PRO Act) in 2023, codifying abortion access in Minnesota. It’s one of the few states in the country that does not prohibit abortions past the stage of viability.
According to the CDC‘s most recent data, less than 1% of abortions nationally occur past 20 weeks of pregnancy. In Minnesota, data from the state Department of Health showed that in 2022, only two abortions occurred between 25 and 30 weeks and none after 30 weeks. Late-term abortions typically occur to save the mother’s life or when families are facing situations where the fetus is unlikely to survive long after birth.
Trump on abortion
Throughout his campaign, Trump has highlighted his appointment of three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, which led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the end of the constitutional right to abortion.
As president, Trump supported legislation that included a federal 20-week ban on abortion, with some exceptions. However, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has told reporters he would not sign a federal ban and said each state should be able to restrict abortion as they choose.
Trump said on Aug. 30 that he’ll vote to uphold Florida’s six-week abortion ban. His statement on that came just a day after he criticized the law in an interview and faced blowback from abortion opponents.
Florida has a proposition on the November ballot to protect abortion rights before fetal viability in the state. It’s one of 10 states where the issue of abortion will be on the ballot.
Laura Doan is a fact checker for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media.
