Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says abortion laws should be determined by US states, stopping short of proposing a national ban and choosing a more moderate stance heading into November’s general election.

In a video post on his social media platform on Monday, the former US president said he supported exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

He also reiterated that he supports the availability of in-vitro fertilisation.

He did not mention any national ban to prohibit abortions beyond a certain number of weeks into a pregnancy, defying hopes among some religious and conservative backers that he would pursue national limits should he return to the White House.

Trump, who had previously signalled support for a national abortion ban beyond 15 weeks, emphasised the importance of winning at the ballot box in his widely anticipated statement on the issue.

“You must follow your heart of this issue but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact, to save our country, which is currently and very sadly, a nation in decline,” Trump said in the video.

Trump took credit for the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 landmark Roe v Wade decision and ending a federal right to abortion, alluding to his conservative picks for the US high court that made it possible.

The court’s ruling triggered a voter backlash that was widely credited with curbing Republican gains in the 2022 congressional midterm elections and propelling Democrats to victories in some state elections in 2023.

“This 50-year battle over Roe v Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds and vote of the people in each state,” Trump said.

“It was really something.

“Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint – the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both,” Trump said.

“And whatever they decide must be the law of the land.”

Democratic President Joe Biden has made Trump’s opposition to abortion rights a key tenet of his re-election campaign.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Chicago, Biden said Trump’s video on Monday shows the former president knows the abortion issue is a political problem for his campaign.

“He’s worried the voters are going to hold him accountable for overturning Roe vs Wade,” Biden said. “Trump doesn’t have a clue about the power of women. He’s about to find out.”

Since launching his campaign in late 2022, Trump has largely shied away from the topic of abortion, reflecting the Republican Party’s struggles to articulate a message to reduce the political fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling.

While Americans tend to accept restrictions on abortion after the first trimester, polls also show that a sizeable majority prefer to have the decision made by the patient and her doctor, not the government.

“With Roe v Wade overturned, leaving abortion to the states is his way of punting on the issue,” said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican political consultant, about Trump’s stance.

“Now that the primary is over, there’s nothing to be gained from proposing a national abortion ban, as he’ll lose support from voters in many swing states.”

– AAP