(LifeSiteNews) – Shortly before delivering remarks Thursday evening at the annual Al Smith Memorial Dinner, former President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke with EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo about a range of issues of interest to Catholics and said he would take a “very serious look” at reinstating the Mexico City Policy.

During the interview, Arroyo asked, “Will you reinstate the Mexico City Policy, which forbids international spending on abortion?”

Here’s our exclusive @WorldOverLive interview with @realDonaldTrump where he talks about exemptions to his IVF mandate, immigration, those “enemies within” comments and more. WATCH it here: pic.twitter.com/sdbK4jxw7s

— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) October 18, 2024

“Well, I was the only one that did that,” Trump responded. “As you know, no other president did that. And we’re going to be giving that a very good, serious look: In other words, how that compares and competes with the states. But we’ll be giving that a very serious look.”

In fact, Trump was not “the only one” that reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions abroad. President Ronald Reagan first instituted the policy in 1984, and President George W. Bush reinstated it in 2001. For decades, it has been taken for granted that Democrat presidents rescind the policy shortly after taking office and Republican presidents restore it.

The pro-life movement overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections, in which Trump ran on pro-life platforms and between which Trump established a solidly pro-life record in office, the most significant element of which was the three Supreme Court justices he nominated joining the majority that overturned Roe v. Wade.

But that relationship has frayed in the past two years, with Trump having moved sharply to the center on life amid popular impressions that a clear pro-life stance has become a political liability (which many pro-lifers dispute). He now opposes further federal action on abortion, supports letting abortion pills be distributed by mail, criticizing states for overly “harsh” abortion bans, and even declaring he would veto an abortion ban if it reached his desk. Through this work, he has taken credit for making the GOP “less radical” on abortion, including by having the national Republican Party platform rewritten to reflect his views and priorities.

Aside from the aforementioned debate over political strategy, defenders of Trump’s turn emphasize that he would at least return to some of the pro-life executive actions of his first term, such as reinstating Mexico City and other moves to reduce the abortion industry’s federal funding.

With the latest remarks, Trump appears to be continuing a trend of hinting at such moves without outright committing to them. The new Republican platform no longer mentions the Mexico City Policy, taxpayer funding of abortion, or defunding Planned Parenthood, and earlier this month Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said that “on the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions” (emphasis added).

Trump’s turn on abortion has anguished many pro-lifers, who were key to his original 2016 victory, prompting debate among many about whether to vote or abstain in the November election.

At the same time, however, Democrats’ continued support for a comprehensive far-left policy agenda expected to keep most conservatives and Republicans resigned to accepting him as preferable.

Trump’s opponent, Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, is running on an absolutist abortion-on-demand platform that includes taxpayer funding of abortion, opposing any and all limits on the practice, signing a law forcing all 50 states to permit abortion again, and most recently abolishing the Senate filibuster to get such a law to her desk. In speeches, she has taken to promoting abortion as a normal procedure to be committed for whatever reason a woman wants, such as disposing of a child that would interfere with her career plans. 

Harris currently leads Trump by 1.6% in RealClearPolitics’ popular vote polling average and by about 3% according to RaceToTheWH, but margins remain extremely close in the swing states that will decide the Electoral College outcome, thanks in large part to Harris’ association with, and refusal to distance herself from, the Biden administration and its economy and border record.