Abortion has loomed over the American political landscape as an unresolved policy issue ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade via the Dobbs decision. Both sides of the aisle have already contended with the decision’s political ramifications, and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, its prominence in our politics has evidently harmed Republicans much more than Democrats. The GOP has struggled to come to a consistent stance on abortion, with some prominent party figures like former president Donald Trump opposing social conservatives’ wishes for restriction efforts on a national scale. While some may deride Trump as being insufficiently pro-life when it could make the most impact, his opposition could — in the long run — benefit pro-life legislative efforts throughout the country.
Until the Republican party espouses an effective abortion strategy while avoiding unwinnable battles at the federal level, Democrats will jump at every opportunity to take advantage of the public’s anxieties. Aided by the mainstream media, progressive activists and legislators have engaged in fear-mongering over the possibility of a national abortion ban should Republicans gain sufficient control of Congress and Trump win a second term as President. As a result, conservatives have faced political roadblocks across policy areas and at all levels of government. The GOP’s poor performance in the 2022 midterm elections alarmed many Republican strategists and signaled a potential electoral backlash for the overturning of Roe. Trump himself agreed with those concerns — shortly after the midterms, he wrote on Truth Social that “it was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions” that cost the party control of Congress.
As de-facto party leader, President Trump has a unique role to play in defining the GOP’s abortion stance. Trump took up the pro-life mantle as a candidate in 2016 and continued to support pro-life policies later on as president, but the matter never reached the same priority in his administration as his hallmark issues like immigration, trade, and foreign policy. Even so, he did usher in an era of new pro-life state legislation by appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe. Trump has touted this accomplishment ever since the ruling, and his role in Roe’s undoing has fueled his credibility with the movement.
Even though his administration greatly benefited the pro-life cause, Trump has in no way been a lifelong standard bearer for it. In 1999, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he considered himself to be “very pro-choice” in a political sense while still personally disagreeing with abortion. His outlook hasn’t necessarily changed regarding his vision for a post-Roe America. In April, he stated that he believes abortion restrictions should be a state-level issue now that the Dobbs decision has recovered that possibility.
Ignoring Trump’s measured position on abortion, President Biden has continued to paint the former president as an anti-woman extremist. His campaign website portrays the issue in black-and-white terms, implying that another Trump presidency would directly result in a ban at the federal level:
It is inaccurate to conflate Trump’s personal views on abortion with the effects of his policy — throughout his career, whether in 1999 with NBC or in recent news, the former president has consistently voiced his pro-life opinions while declining to endorse efforts to ban abortion nationwide.
A state-by-state strategy on abortion might be the most suitable compromise between the pro-life movement and Republican strategists concerned with the party’s electoral viability. Committing to sign a federal ban could seriously harm Trump’s election chances by drawing attention away from the Biden administration’s policy failures. Even if he were to be elected, diminished Republican gains in Congress would likely handicap the new administration’s ability to further policy concerns for a plethora of issues — all facets of the next Trump White House’s agenda could suffer, including anything that would benefit the pro-life movement.
By declining to endorse a federal abortion ban and refocusing the media’s narrative on issues which conservatives can take on the offensive against the Biden administration, such as the White House’s disastrous immigration policy and foreign affairs shortcomings, Donald Trump could avoid that catastrophe. He already empowered the pro-life movement to make rapid progress by providing for the Supreme Court makeup that overturned Roe.
Now, statehouses are the principal battlegrounds for life, and putting federal abortion policy on the backburner — at least temporarily — would allow Republicans to secure their statewide legislative gains before considering more aggressive action. Until the political environment surrounding national abortion policy changes, conservative statesmen will be unable to propose serious federal legislation without fear of jeopardizing all their past progress. For now, this movement can do much more good by working toward incremental change rather than by falling on its sword.
