Walz defends Minnesota abortion policy in first interview as VP nominee

• Walz also told Fox's Shannon Bream that former President Trump's promise not to back a national abortion ban if re-elected was "of course" a lie.
• "They may see this as an election issue," he said of Republicans. "We see it as a right of women to make their own bodily decisions."
• Walz noted, as he and Vice President Kamala Harris have on several occasions, that the Democratic ticket is calling for the restoration of protections under Roe v. Wade, which did have limitations.

Zoom in: Walz signed into law legislation codifying the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive healthcare in the state following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe. He also enacted a shield law to guard providers and patients.

• "This doesn't change anything," Walz said of Minnesota's policy, adding that the law aligns with physicians' ethical responsibilities. "It puts the decision back on to the woman, to the physicians."
• The Gopher State's abortion protections do not delineate a gestational limit on the procedure, which opponents of the law have condemned.
• A separate law Walz signed has also come under Republican scrutiny: That measure changed the guideline language for medical providers from instructing them to "preserve the life" of an infant born alive after an attempted abortion to saying they must "care" for the infant.

Pressed by Bream, Walz argued the criticism was "a distraction" from cases of women having health complications as a result of restricted reproductive care.

• "When you don't have the ability of heath care providers to provide that, that's where you end up with a situation like Amanda Zurawski in Texas, where they are afraid to do what's necessary," Walz said of Minnesota's abortion law.
• Zurawski has said she was unable under Texas law to get an abortion she needed due to a miscarriage after her water broke at 18 weeks. Zurawski subsequently developed sepsis. She, among others, sued the state last year.
• Minnesota's law also came up during Walz's vice presidential debate on Tuesday against GOP nominee Sen. JD Vance.

The other side: "This coming from a guy who has been exposed as a liar and a fraud. Nothing that comes out of Tampon Tim's mouth is even remotely true," Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Between the lines: But abortions at or after 21 weeks are extremely rare, accounting for less than 1% of all abortions in the U.S., per CDC data.

• The statute to adjust medical guidelines that Vance cited during the debate, supporters say, was intended to allow families and physicians to forgo medical intervention in rare times infants are delivered with fatal health complications.

Walz also faced questioning Sunday about his repeated comments that he and his wife underwent in-vitro fertilization treatment to have their children, when they actually used IUI, also known as artificial insemination.

• "I don't think people care whether I used IUI or IVF...what they understand is Donald Trump would resist those things," he said.
• IVF has become a political friction point and a top campaign issue for Democrats, who have sought to tie Trump's stance on abortion restrictions to the treatment.
• But Trump has said he supports the procedure and suggested in August the cost of IVF should be covered by the government or insurance companies, though it's unclear how that would work.

The bottom line: Abortion is a top issue for voters this fall, especially women.

• Polls show most Americans believe the procedure should be legal in all or most cases.

Go deeper: What to know about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a comment from the Trump campaign.