When Donald J. Trump ran for president in 2016, leaders of the anti-abortion movement extracted a series of promises from him in exchange for support for his nomination.
They called for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. They insisted that he defund the family planning system. They pushed for a vice president who was a champion of their cause. And each time he said yes.
But that was then.
With Roe v. Wade left on the “ash heap of history,” as leaders of the anti-abortion movement often say, they realized they no longer had the power to decide. Their movement remains strong in Republican-controlled state legislatures and conservative courts, but nationally it is weaker than it has been in recent years. Many Republican strategists and candidates believe their cause, and even the decades-old term “pro-life,” is politically toxic. And on Monday, their biggest champion, the man they call “the most pro-life president in history,” chose politics over their ideals and launched a series of blistering attacks against some of their top leaders. .
In his clearest statement yet about the future of abortion rights since Roe's fall in 2022, Trump exposed how he has been the wrong messenger for the anti-abortion cause. When he first announced his presidential bid in 1999, Trump made his position on abortion clear. “I'm very pro-abortion,” he said. Twelve years later, he reversed that position, telling attendees at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference: “Quite simply, I'm pro-life.”
After the Supreme Court's decision, his support shifted again. He boasted of appointing three of the justices who overturned Roe, while blaming the movement for Republicans' losses in the midterm elections. He thought aloud about the idea of a federal ban, but refused to give it the kind of ringing support that anti-abortion leaders had hoped for.
In a four-minute video statement Monday, Trump said states and their voters should decide abortion policy themselves, using language that sounded liberal to the most staunch abortion opponents. He supported access to infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, and supported exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
His statement lacked specifics. Trump dodged his question about whether he would support a federal ban on abortion if the bill were introduced as president. He did not say whether he would support bans in states that do not have these exceptions or whether he would vote in favor of a bill in his home state of Florida that would enshrine the right to abortion. Nor did he discuss the experiences of women who have faced impossible choices and medical crises in states where the procedure is currently banned.
“You have to follow your heart, often your religion or faith,” he said. “Do what's right for your family, and do what's right for you.”
Trump later said he believed his comments freed up the Republican Party to address more politically advantageous issues, softening issues he believed were harmful to the party. Told. Death and destruction of our country! ”
Some of the staunchest anti-abortion campaigners said that although Mr. Trump wants to neutralize the political impact of the issue, he cannot exceed what he has unleashed as president. States across the country are embroiled in battles over the details of restrictions on abortion procedures, as Democrats push ballot measures across the country to enshrine the right to abortion in state constitutions. Stories about women who were refused surgery continue to make headlines. And in June, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on restricting access to a well-known drug used in abortion procedures.
Trump's position on whether to sign a national abortion ban remains unclear, but Trump's allies and supporters have raised concerns about the possibility of going beyond a national abortion ban in a potential second Trump administration. Plans are underway to restrict abortion rights through certain proposals and administrative actions.
“Even if we insist that the abortion issue belongs to each state, that doesn't mean it will disappear from national elections,” said Leonard, a longtime leader of the Federalist Society who was influential in Trump's selection of Supreme Court justices.・A. Leo said in an interview. .
But Trump's comments highlighted how the anti-abortion movement is struggling to gain a foothold in the post-Roe era. For decades, abortion opponents had one central goal: overturning Roe. They now face a political landscape fundamentally reshaped by that decision, with Republican presidential candidates no longer seeing them as undeniable assets but as potential political liabilities.
Over the weekend, leaders of anti-abortion groups began receiving word that a statement from Trump was coming. They called around to find out what it would say.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said she spoke with Trump on Monday morning. Her group made many promises from Trump in 2016 and frequently visited the White House. But efforts to get Trump to support the federal government's 15-week stay-at-home order failed.
“His only interests are political,” Dannenfelser said in an interview. “It's so unfortunate. This is a complete loss of reason, and that only happens in Republican abortion politics.”
Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, criticized his former boss's announcement as a “slap in the face” to anti-abortion voters who supported Trump in the past two elections. “Too many Republican politicians are ready to walk away from the fight of their lives,” he wrote on social media.
Trump responded to the criticism with a series of scathing attacks on Dannenfelser and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, with Graham also questioning the former president's anti-abortion efforts on Monday. It showed. Trump took full credit for his decision to oust Roe, ignoring decades of efforts by activists and lawyers to build a conservative movement to oust Roe.
“Lindsay, Marjorie and others fought for years with no results, so I came along and got the job done,” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. “We cannot allow our country to suffer further damage by losing elections on issues that have always been and will be decided by the nation!”
Those who were less publicly critical did not face the same ire. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, said Trump “very clearly affirms his family” in the statement. She was confident that if elected, Trump would have aides in the government pushing for efforts to further restrict abortion rights and access across the country.
“I hope he sticks to this statement,” she said, “and then moves forward and begins to nominate pro-life appointments, name a pro-life vice presidential candidate, and give the Department across the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, FDA, EPA, and Cabinet, pledging to appoint only pro-life leaders.”
None of his critics said they planned to withhold support for Trump in November, not least because the former president did not take a more aggressive federal stance. This suggests that they may not have to pay such a high price.
The idea of a 15-week ban was always more about politics than policy. Such proposals would not eliminate many abortions. According to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 94 percent of abortions occur before 13 weeks of pregnancy. It is also unlikely that such a ban would gain enough support in the Senate to pass. It also does not affect the 18 states that currently ban pre-pregnancy abortions.
However, it was unpopular among independents and moderate voters. A poll by KFF, a nonprofit organization focused on health policy, found that six in 10 voters oppose a federal ban after 16 weeks. The findings are disputed by many anti-abortion advocates, but not by other Republican strategists.
“He actually made all the right points in this statement,” said Nicole McCleskey, a Republican pollster who has conducted focus groups on abortion. “He landed where most Americans are.”
Democrats disagree. They point to polls showing most Americans support some form of abortion rights and want those rights restored in federal law. From the White House to candidates in down-ballot races, Democrats have hit the former president with a series of attacks blaming the former president for what some are calling the “brutality and chaos” caused by abortion regulations. I was ready to hang on.
“Today, Donald Trump made clear once again that he is the man responsible for ending Roe v. Wade more than anyone else in America,” President Biden said in a statement. “The guy who caused the chaos of upsetting Raw is trying to say, 'Oh, never mind.' Don't punish me for that. I just want to win.”
Democrats argued that Mr. Trump's silence on the issue effectively amounts to endorsing outright bans in states such as Texas, where abortion is prohibited in nearly all circumstances. Their efforts highlight the difficulties Trump may face as he seeks to distance himself from an issue that is likely to remain in the headlines long after Election Day.
“He is acutely aware of how unpopular his party's position is on this issue and how unpopular his actions are,” said Abortion Rights, formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice America. said Mini Thimaraju, president of the organization Reproductive Freedom for All. “We can't let him get away because he's trying so hard to be successful both ways.”
Within hours of Trump's remarks, Biden's campaign released a digital ad highlighting the story of a Texas woman who was denied an abortion, developed sepsis, and may never be able to have children again. did.
In advertisements, text flashes on the screen. Over the sound of her sobbing, it says, “Trump did this.”