Former President and presumptive Republican White House nominee Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that he will not sign a federal abortion ban if it reaches his desk.

CNN reports that he was asked point-blank if he would sign an abortion ban that did muster enough support to clear Congress, to which he answered "no." The stance marks a reversal from his 2016 pledge to sign the federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and his urging of Congress to send the same law to his desk at the 2020 March for Life.

Trump announced on Monday that "whatever" individual states "decide must be the law of the land" on abortion instead of pursuing further pro-life protections at the federal level, while reiterating his support for embryo-destructive in vitro fertilization and rape, incest, and "health" exceptions for abortion laws. Direct abortion is always gravely immoral and never needed nor ethically justified to save a mother's life.

Trump has repeatedly framed the June 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, brought about thanks in part to Supreme Court justices he nominated, as an "end" to the abortion battle's national aspect.

Various defenders have interpreted his remarks as a mere tactical focus on advancing life at the state level until public opinion is more conducive to federal action.

The answer removes whatever lingering doubt remained this week for the prospects of late-term or 15-week abortion bans in a second Trump administration.