Democrats and abortion rights activists on Friday seized on a report by the New York Times that former President Donald Trump is privately in favor of a ban on abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy.

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign used the report as an effort to contrast Trump with the Democratic incumbent on abortion, a key issue that they believed fueled them to victories in elections since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 and could be a driving force for them in November's presidential contest.

According to the Times article, Trump has privately told allies and advisers that he likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban, with only three exceptions: in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the pregnant parent.

Per the article, Trump has said that he wants to wait to discuss publicly his views until the presidential primary is over so as to not risk alienating social conservatives before he can clinch the nomination.

The reason behind the 16-week gestational limit, the article notes, is in part because Trump likes the number ("Know what I like about 16? It’s even. It’s four months," the GOP frontrunner said, per the article), with the thought that it would satisfy both moderates, who favor more modest limits on abortion, and conservatives pushing for further abortion restrictions.

In a statement on Friday, Trump's spokesperson explained in her statement how he would approach abortion legislation should he win the presidency in 2024.

“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with," Trump campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on the "Fake News New York Times Article."

"President Trump appointed strong Constitutionalist federal judges and Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the decision back to the states, which others have tried to do for over 50 years," Leavitt added, before claiming that President Joe Biden and Democrats are "supporting radical on-demand abortion" up to and beyond the moment of birth.

While Trump's spokesperson referred to the report as the "Fake News New York Times Article," she did not explicitly deny that he favored a 16-week ban. The Trump campaign has not responded to a request from Spectrum News asking for the former president to clarify if he indeed supports a nationwide 16-week abortion ban.

President Biden, on the other hand, has sought to make the case that Trump is "punishing women" with his stance on abortion, trying to emphasize that November's is a "binary choice" between the two candidates on the issue.

"Trump brags about being the one to overturn Roe. Now, millions of women cannot access critical health care, with too many being turned away from emergency rooms. States have imposed abortion bans so restrictive that they have no exceptions for rape or incest. And doctors are being threatened with felony charges and time in prison simply for caring for their patients," President Joe Biden said in a statement released by his reelection campaign. “It's no surprise. It was Trump himself who said that women have to be punished. And punishing women is exactly what Trump has done."

Since federal abortion protections enshrined in Roe v. Wade were overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court — featuring three Trump appointees — 20 states have limited abortions to 15 weeks of gestation or fewer (with Georgia and South Carolina carrying 6-week bans, and Utah carrying an 18-week ban), and 14 have banned the procedure in almost all circumstances. 

In a press call hosted by the Biden campaign Friday afternoon, EMILYS List Interim President Emily Mackler challenged the assertion that a federal 16-week ban is a moderate stance.

"This is an extreme position that will limit reproductive rights nationally, including in states where abortion is currently protected," Mackler said. "What Trump and MAGA Republicans need to realize is that their problem isn't branding or messaging on abortion, it's the agenda — voters believe that decisions for what to do with our bodies, for whether and how to grow our families, for what our future looks like, those should all be our decisions."

According to Gallup, which has annually polled voters regarding their thoughts on abortion since 1975, 85% of those surveyed in May 2023 feel that abortion procedures should be legal, with 34% saying it should be legal under any circumstance and 51 percent favoring legality only under certain circumstances. Also in May 2023, 61% of survey respondents say the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe was a "bad thing."

Last year, a KFF survey of OB-GYNs found that 68% of OB-GYNs say that their ability to manage pregnancy-related emergencies has worsened since Roe was overturned and 70% say that already-stark racial and ethnic inequalities in maternal health have worsened.

"I just want folks to understand that all abortion bans are radical and voters dislike them deeply," said Reproductive Freedom For All President Mini Timmaraju on the call.

"We’re seeing over and over and over again, in places like my home state of Texas, that in many of these places, exceptions are designed not to work, and they’re impossible to enforce in these incredibly draconian states with these extreme bans," Timmaraju said.

"I never imagined colleagues would find themselves tracking down hospital attorneys before performing urgent abortions, when minutes count, asking if a 30 percent chance of maternal death, or impending renal failure, meet the criteria for the state’s exemptions, or whether they must wait a while longer, until their pregnant patient gets even sicker," Dr. Jack Resneck, then-President of the American Medical Association, said at a 2022 meeting.

Voters have pushed back on abortion bans in states where the matter has been on the ballot: measures to amend state constitutions with abortion bans have failed in both Kansas and Kentucky, and constitutional protections on abortion have been enshrined by voters in California, Ohio, Michigan and Vermont. The Biden-Harris campaign is betting on those voters, and those similarly-minded, to defeat Trump in November.

“The choice is very simple. [Vice President Kamala Harris] and I will restore Roe v. Wade and make it once again the law of the land. Donald Trump will ban abortion nationwide," Biden said in a statement. 

"As I’ve said before, Donald Trump doesn’t have a clue about the power of women in America. He’s about to find out this November.”