Is Ivanka Trump pro-life and anti-abortion? Did she fight for Planned Parenthood which her father, President Donald Trump, declared to defund?
Ivanka reportedly advised the president to "tread carefully" when it came to dealing with Planned Parenthood, according to New York Times. She allegedly told her dad to reconsider the plan of cutting the agency's annual $500 million budget from the federal government.
Some took this move to mean Ivanka has a different perception regarding abortion and women's rights as opposed to her father, who is pro-life and anti-abortion. Yet the mother-of-three has made no clear pronouncements about her actual stance. In fact, Ivanka has been clearer about dodging women's rights issues better than declaring what side she's really supporting.
Before her father assumed the presidency, Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, reportedly donated money to pro-abortion groups in New York, Newsweek reported. Some say, however, that because of Ivanka's religious belief, she could be anti-abortion like her dad after all.
Why does it matter where Ivanka stood on this issue? Observers said it's because she's one of the more powerful women at the White House and one of the few women that President Trump listens to. Even without an official title other than as presidential adviser, the president apparently trusts Ivanka's judgments and ideas so her influence in his decision-making is significant.
Last Monday, White House reportedly had a closed door meeting with Planned Parenthood. The president then announced he would be willing to keep its funding if the agency won't perform abortion services anymore, as Parent Herald previously reported. Others noted Ivanka's hand in this slight shift but at the end of the day, the president's decision was entirely his own.
Planned Parenthood, however, rejected Trump's offer. Its president Cecile Richards said in a statement that Planned Parenthood would be more effective if it provided "the full range of reproductive health care," including abortion, as per Time.
