Reproductive rights

During the debate, Trump claimed that "every legal scholar, every Democrat, every Republican, liberal, conservative, they all wanted" the issue of abortion "to be brought back to the states," adding that "it's the vote of the people now. It's not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it. And the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it," referring to the court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Trump also claimed that Democrats favor the "execution" of babies after they're born, adding that Harris' pick for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), "says execution after birth … is okay."

One of the moderators, Linsey Davis, corrected Trump, saying, "there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born."

After Harris claimed that Trump would sign a national abortion ban, Trump responded saying "I'm not signing a ban. And there's no reason to sign a ban. Because we've gotten what everybody wanted."

The moderators asked Trump if he would veto a national abortion ban, noting that his pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), said that Trump would do so.

"Well, I didn't discuss it with JD in all fairness," Trump said, adding that he doesn't "mind if [Vance] has a certain view but I think he was speaking for me but I really didn't."

Meanwhile, Harris said she "absolutely support[s] reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade," and attacked Trump's assertion that returning the issue of abortion to the states was what the majority of people wanted.

"I have talked with women around our country," Harris said. "You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health-care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn't want that."

Harris added that she believes "the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, should not be made by the government."

While Trump has said he supports allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest, and jeopardy to life, Harris noted that some state bans don't include these exceptions.

"Understand what that means. A survivor of a crime, a violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next," she said. "Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail."

Harris also said that in states with abortion bans, "Couples who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF treatments," adding that "working people, working women who are working one or two jobs, who can barely afford childcare as it is, have to travel to another state to get on a plane sitting next to strangers, to go and get the health care she needs."

In response, Trump said that he has "been a leader on IVF." Following a decision by the Alabama Supreme Court in February ruling that frozen embryos qualify as people and that a person can be held liable for destroying them, he "saw the people of Alabama and the legislature two days later voted it in," referring to a law passed by the Alabama legislature that extended criminal and civil immunity to IVF clinics for operations, as well as criminal immunity to manufacturers for products used in IVF treatment if embryos are destroyed.

ACA

During the debate, Trump said that the ACA is "lousy health care. Always was. It's not very good today," adding that he "inherited [the ACA] because Democrats wouldn't change it. They wouldn't vote for it. They were unanimous … If they would have done that, we would have had a much better plan than [the ACA]."

Trump said he was then faced with the choice, "do I save [the ACA] and make it as good as it can be? … Or do I let it rot? And I felt I had an obligation, even though politically it would have been good to just let it rot and let it go away … I saved it. I did the right thing. But it's still never going to be great. And it's too expensive for people."

When moderators asked Trump about his statement that he will keep the ACA in place "unless we can do something much better" and whether he has a plan to replace the law, Trump said he has "concepts of a plan," adding that "if we come up with something I would only change it if we come up with something better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options we have to do that. And you'll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future."

Trump also claimed that Harris "doesn't want" private medical insurance.

"People are paying privately for insurance that have worked hard and made money and they want to have private [insurance]," Trump said. "She wants everybody to be on government insurance where you wait six months for an operation that you need immediately."

For her part, Harris said she wants to "maintain and grow the Affordable Care Act," and said that over the last four years the Biden administration has "strengthened the Affordable Care Act, we have allowed for the first time Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of you the American people," adding that Trump "said he was going to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices" but never did.

Harris also touted the Biden administration's capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month and the cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000 a year.

"And when I am president we will do that for all people understanding that the value I bring to this is that access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it," Harris said. "And the plan has to be to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, not get rid of it."

The Daily Briefing has detailed coverage of both parties' stances on healthcare, including commentary from Advisory Board experts. Check out where the Republican Party stands on healthcare here, and where the Democratic Party stands on healthcare here.  (Hoffman, ABC News, 9/10; Owermohle, STAT, 9/10; Zhang, STAT, 9/11; Goldman/Reed, Axios, 9/11; Habeshian, Axios, 9/10; Glueck, New York Times, 9/10; Roubein, "Health Brief," Washington Post, 9/11)