TRUMP STRUGGLES TO UNITE GOP ON ABORTION. Early Monday morning, former President Donald Trump issued an anxiously awaited statement on abortion. It was anxiously awaited because the Republican Party has been floundering in the attempt to find some sort of unifying policy on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade. In this case, because he, more than any other political figure, made the overturn of Roe possible, Trump felt a responsibility to lead the party toward a new position. His statement on Monday was an attempt to do that.
The first thing Trump did was to try to establish Republicans as the party of families. “Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, and healthy American families,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social. “We want to make it easier for mothers and families to have babies — not harder.”
From there, Trump moved to voice strong support for in vitro fertilization, the fertility treatment that was at the center of a recent highly publicized legal fight in Alabama. Trump saw political peril for Republicans in a battle on the fringes of the abortion question, and he has taken steps to counter opposition to IVF. His pro-family position “includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every state in America,” Trump said. “Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, including the vast majority of Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and pro-life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby. What could be more beautiful or better than that?”
On the (much) larger question of abortion nationwide, Trump did two things. First, he claimed ownership of the Dobbs decision that ended Roe. Trump appointed Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom voted to overturn Roe, so it is fair to say that Trump, with a huge assist from then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), can take credit, or blame, for the decision. “I was proudly the person responsible” for the end of Roe, Trump said in the video.
It’s notable that Trump said that again — he has said it many times before — because that is precisely the line President Joe Biden has been using to fire up Democratic opposition to Trump. Indeed, Biden’s campaign website almost immediately posted the relevant clip from Trump’s statement Monday morning. Trump has made the decision that it is better to stand by his Supreme Court nominations and their decisions rather than distance himself in the heat of political attacks.
The core of Trump’s policy message is that abortion policy should be left to the states. “My view is that 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, in this case the law of the state. Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will have more conservative than others. … At the end of the day, this is about the will of the people.”
“Now, it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” Trump said, noting that he favors exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. “You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and, in fact, to save our country.”
That was the heart of the political message Trump was sending. Shaping policy on abortion in the United States is a political matter. Republicans, Trump suggested, can come up with whatever abortion policy they want, but it will not matter unless they win elections. It was that way during Roe, and it is that way after Roe.
Trump’s statement met immediate opposition from some corners of the Republican pro-life world. “We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act. Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats, who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. If successful, they will wipe out states’ rights.”
The Republican Party is going through a troubled period on abortion now. But it is what the conservative advocates who sought to overturn Roe wanted. Their belief was that since there is no right to abortion in the Constitution, then the question should be left to the states. But of course that would not settle the abortion question. Instead, it would create political battles, sometimes very intense battles, in the states, which is where we are now. And that will lead to a patchwork of policies across the nation. Of course abortion policy will be different in California than it is in Alabama.
Now with the presidential election seven months away, Trump is trying to build a tent that all Republicans can stand under on abortion. It might be an impossible task, judging by the criticism that has already come Trump’s way. The attacks from Biden and Democrats could help unite the GOP, but Republicans, including their presidential candidate, are still struggling to find a policy they can use to navigate the post-Roe world.
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