In excerpt from new memoir, Melania Trump says women have the ‘right to choose’ abortion

Former first lady Melania Trump says in a self-titled memoir set to be released next week that she supports women’s autonomy and the right to control their own bodies -- including abortion, if they choose.

“Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth,” she said in a brief video released on Thursday to promote her new book.

Melania Trump shared her views on abortion in coordinated messages across several social media outlets, from her husband’s Truth Social platform to Instagram.

Her stance adds another jolt to a presidential campaign season rife with dramatic events, with Melania Trump weighing in on a topic that is a central issue in her husband’s bid for reelection.

“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy” when deciding when and whether to have children, Trump writes in her book, according to an excerpt cited by The Guardian. The newspaper says it obtained an early copy of the book.

Those decisions, she said, should be based on women’s personal convictions, not on “intervention or pressure from the government,” according to the excerpt.

According to the The Guardian Melania Trump also writes:

“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.

Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

NPR has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment about Melania Trump’s writings, and is