WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s new comments on abortion are putting the spotlight back on the Texas women affected by the state's tough anti-abortion rights law. Some of them are calling attention to the effects of the state’s restrictions, and they are making their feelings known in this year’s elections.

What You Need To Know

  • Democrats from President Joe Biden to Rep. Colin Allred, a candidate for U.S. Senate, are highlighting the experiences of Texas women including Kaitlyn Kash, who have been personally affected by the state's abortion restrictions

  • After Texas's six-week abortion ban went into effect, Kash had a fatal fetal diagnosis, and because her life was not immediately at risk, she did not qualify for the exception

  • Political analysts say those efforts to highlight the issue by Democratic politicians have pushed former President Donald Trump to release a video statement saying decisions on restrictions should be left to the states

  • The former president touted in his new video he is “proudly the person responsible" for appointing justices who overturned the constitutional right to the procedure, triggering backlash from abortion rights supporters, as well as some opponents because he did not endorse nationwide rules

Kaitlyn Kash has been sharing her personal story of being affected by the state’s strict abortion ban in the hope that there’s at least clarification around what constitutes a medical exception for the procedure. 

Shortly after Texas’s six-week abortion restriction went into effect in 2021, Kash had a fatal fetal diagnosis. Because her life was not immediately at risk, she did not qualify for the limited exception under the law to have an abortion in-state.

“We were forced to flee the state, and in this moment, where all I wanted to do was be at my house grieving the loss of my child, I was booking travel plans, trying to sign consents, get medical records. I mean, there was no help that they could provide in Texas,” Kash told Spectrum News.  

Democrats from President Joe Biden to Rep. Colin Allred, a candidate for U.S. Senate, are highlighting the experiences of Texas women like Kash ahead of the election.

“If the Democrats have any chance of winning Texas, they've got to use the abortion issue to mobilize their voters. It's been really the thing that is the most significant primer of votes from Democrats,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, political science professor at the University of Houston.

Kash participated in a call with Biden campaign officials shortly after Trump's announcement. The Biden campaign also released a new ad on Monday against Trump, highlighting Amanda Zurawski, who was denied an abortion after having a miscarriage following the end of Roe v. Wade.

“Biden has said very publicly many times that he will restore the protections of Roe. He won't allow a national abortion ban to be passed, and I think they're very pro-women's rights and pro-reproductive rights. They continue to make this issue a pillar of their campaign and that's why I'm so proud to support them,” Zurawski told Capital Tonight’s Karina Kling. 

Political analysts say those efforts to highlight the issue by Democratic politicians have pushed former President Trump to release his video statement on Monday, laying out his clearest stance yet on abortion. He said decisions on restrictions should be left to the states.

“This announcement is a kind of half step in the direction of a recognition that Republicans have to do some damage control when it comes to the politics of abortion,” Rottinghaus said. 

“Trump's emphasis on state politics probably helps to sway some more moderate Republicans who are worried that maybe the abortion question might be a damaging issue for Republicans, but it won't matter much in terms of how Democrats paint Donald Trump, which will definitely be that he is significantly anti-choice,” Rottinghaus continued.

Some, but not all, opponents of abortion rights in Texas were disappointed Trump did not endorse federal restrictions. Trump said, “You must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact, to save our country, which is currently and very sadly, a nation in decline.”

“We have not taken any position on a federal abortion law, and that's in large part because it would not affect Texas,” said Amy O’Donnell, communications director of Texas Alliance for Life. “Our laws protect life now from conception on.”

The Texas law does not have exceptions for rape or incest, provisions which Trump supports. Texas Alliance for Life did praise Trump for appointing the three justices who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that established the constitutional right to an abortion. 

O’Donnell said she applauds Trump for “appointing Supreme Court justices who took a fresh look at Roe in light of the Constitution.”

The former president touted that in his new video, as well. Trump said he is “proudly the person responsible.” 

“I can't believe somebody running for the highest office in the land would be proud of the pain that I've gone through,” Kash said. 

Even after urging the Texas Medical Board to offer more explicit guidance on medical exceptions, Kash is skeptical of how far the state’s Republican officials will go and is now pushing for national abortion rights protections. That could all depend on who is elected this fall. 

“I hope people will remember when they go to the polls is — you have a mother, you have a daughter, you have a sister,” Kash said. “There are women in your life that are being impacted by these laws.”