Everything Doug Burgum Has Said About Abortion And Trans Issues

Donald Trump has tapped North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department, and Newsweek has looked at his record on abortion and trans issues.

Burgum, 67, was revealed as Trump’s pick on Thursday, during a speech at an event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He has been governor since 2016 and is a Trump loyalist, endorsing the President-elect after he dropped out of the race for this year’s GOP presidential nomination in December, 2023.

As Secretary of the Interior, Burgum would oversee the management of federal lands, the use of natural resources, Native American affairs and environmental protection.

While Burgum has a reputation for being a business-minded conservative, as he was a successful software executive in the early 2000s, he has also signed some of the country’s strictest abortion laws into effect for his state.

On top of this, he was once called out by the Human Rights Campaign, the U.S.’s largest LGBTQI+ civil rights organization, for signing into law some policies it considered discriminatory. Here is everything you need to know.

Newsweek has contacted Burgum’s team, via email, for any further comment.

Doug Burgum on Abortion

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, North Dakota essentially banned abortion with few exceptions.

Abortions were allowed in cases of rape, incest or medical emergencies but only up until six weeks’ gestation. After this point, rape and incest victims could not get abortions.

Red River Women’s Clinic, which was North Dakota’s only abortion clinic before it moved to Minnesota, took the state to court, and South Central Judicial District Judge Bruce sided with the clinic in September.

He ruled that the law “takes away a woman’s fundamental rights to liberty and her fundamental right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness” and “impermissibly infringes on the constitutional rights for victims of crimes,” the North Dakota Monitor reported at the time.

The state has filed a notice of appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court and asked to keep its abortion ban in effect while the appeal is being looked at.

Earlier this year, before the election, Trump called Burgum’s signing of the ban “an issue.” In July, when Trump was asked about whether Burgum was an option for his running mate on Fox News Radio, Trump said: “You know, I think Doug is great. But…he’s taken a very strong stance, or the state has, I don’t know if it’s Doug, but the state has, so it’s an issue.”

In 2016, Burgum was actually against outlawing abortions. That year, during his first campaign as governor, he said: “When you outlaw the ability to terminate pregnancies and make it illegal, it just makes it unsafe for some of the most vulnerable people in the world — young women who are scared, who are afraid, who are in a spot, you know, that they don’t want to be in.”

He has since been questioned on his shift in position on this issue, saying he has “evolved.”

“I have been clear that I’m opposed to a federal abortion ban. I’m aligned with President Trump on that, and this is something that has to be left to the states,” Burgum told Meet the Press in June this year, adding that the reason for this was the improvement in maternal care.

He said: “Everybody…knows that care has evolved during that period of time. And I think that we can accomplish both of those goals. We can make sure that we’re protecting and honoring life but making sure we’re also delivering against maternal care. And that’s going to be handled best at a state-by-state level.”

Doug Burgum on Trans Issues

Last year Burgum signed multiple bills classed as anti-LGBTQI+ by the Human Rights Campaign.

These included HB 1473, which prohibits trans people from using same-sex bathrooms and shower rooms in a correctional facility, a domestic violence organization or a dormitory or living facility controlled by an institution under the control of the state, such as a university.

He also signed HB 1254, which bans gender-affirming care for minors, meaning medical professionals cannot prescribe treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgical interventions for children.

Other bills Burgum signed restrict “adult-oriented performances,” which includes drag shows, from taking place in public where minors are able to see them (HB 1333) and three separate pieces of legislation (HB 1249, 1489, and HCR 3010) which restrict participation in women’s sport to biological females.

Burgum also faced backlash for including the right to “religious refusal” in the religious freedom bill HB 1136, with critics arguing this can be used for businesses and even medical professionals to discriminate against LGBTQI+ individuals by refusing them services, for example.

During Burgum’s campaign for the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, he dubbed trans rights as part of a “culture war,” saying he would leave trans laws up to the states.