Now We Know Why Melania Trump ‘Wrote’ a Memoir

In her new memoir—conveniently coming out a month before Election Day—the former first lady writes, "Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body."

By Lauren Tousignant  |  October 3, 2024 | 11:09am
AbortionPolitics
Now We Know Why Melania Trump ‘Wrote’ a Memoir

In early September, Melania Trump did something she’s rarely done since her husband became a politician: She publicly said more than two sentences. In a black-and-white trailer released on her Twitter account, Melania used 47 words to announce she would be releasing a memoir, saying, “As a private person who’s often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts,” as a montage of her travels flashed by, including footage of her in front of the pyramids and holding hands with small Black children.

The memoir comes out Tuesday, but the Guardian got an advance copy and, among the memoir’s big reveals, it turns out, Mrs. Trump is pro-choice.

“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,” she “writes” in Melania, according to the outlet. “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.”

So true, girly. And what opportune timing! It’s been a long summer and even longer year of the Republican Party, and her husband especially, attempting to distance themselves from their own anti-abortion records. It’s very convenient that, less than five weeks before the election, Trump’s wife decides to announce she supports abortion rights—a position that’s in stark contrast to the anti-abortion former president who still boasts about overturning Roe v. Wade. Then again, that anti-abortion position cost Republicans in the midterms and polls consistently show that most Americans don’t agree with it.

I’m not suggesting that Melania started “writing” this book in April, after Trump told Time that he’d be fine with states surveilling pregnancies in order to prosecute women for violating abortion bans, or that she started “writing” this in July, while Trump and the GOP strategically avoided the topic of abortion at the Republican National Convention but an RNC policy director told anti-abortion extremists not to worry about anything. Or even that she started writing this in September after she already released the trailer, and after Trump twice refused to say he’d veto a national abortion ban during his first and only debate with Harris.

I’m just suggesting that with the right group of ghostwriters and an eager enough publisher, the typical one-to-two-year writing-to-publication timeline does not apply here. Maybe Melania really did think this was the perfect moment to finally reveal she’s a liberal (at least on social issues), but the more likely scenario, IMO, is that the Trump campaign saw an opportunity to dull Trump’s extremist and erratic anti-abortion opinions, and she was fine to go along with it.

“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body,” she continues. “I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.” That’s awesome! I support this stance, of course, though I also think the memoir should have been titled Complicit Piece of Shit. 

Regardless of when she wrote the stupid thing, it’s a strategically—and infuriatingly—timed PR ploy that the Trump campaign probably hopes will earn them some independent voters who are nervous about Trump’s connection with Project 2025 and win back the suburban women who support abortion rights and access to reproductive services like IVF. Because Melania had like, 700,000 moments to proudly declare she supports abortion during Trump’s first term.

“I have always believed it is critical for people to take care of themselves first. It’s a very straightforward concept; in fact, we are all born with a set of fundamental rights, including the right to enjoy our lives. We are all entitled to maintain a gratifying and dignified existence,” she writes. “This common-sense approach applies to a woman’s natural right to make decisions about her own body and health.”

She also “writes” that she supports abortion later in pregnancy—a position that the GOP is obviously against and one that even some Democrats have tried to avoid: “It is important to note that historically, most abortions conducted during the later stages of pregnancy were the result of severe fetal abnormalities that probably would have led to the death or stillbirth of the child. Perhaps even the death of the mother. These cases were extremely rare and typically occurred after several consultations between the woman and her doctor. As a community, we should embrace these common-sense standards. Again, timing matters.”

Speaking of timing… It’s 33 days until Election Day, and I’m pretty sure the headache I have now will last until then.

 
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