Donald Trump likes to point out that he played a key role in overturning the “Roe v. Wade” ruling that protected abortion at the federal level by appointing conservative judges to the Supreme Court. But on the key issue of the conditions of access to abortion, the Republican candidate for the White House repeats over and over again that he wants to “defer to the states,” without specifying his position.
He knows he is treading on minefield. A total ban on abortion is unpopular nationally, including in most conservative states. Democrats are well aware of this: with Kamala Harris, they have made the defense of reproductive rights one of the main issues of the electoral campaign.
Abortion referendum
With some success. The Democratic candidate won the votes of the female electorate with a 13-point lead, according to the latest Ipsos poll for the ABC channel published Sunday, while she trails five points among men. She leads overall, 50% to 46%, in the same poll.
Donald Trump is looking for a way out, but he cannot afford to stray too far from the orthodoxy of his party, which has historically been opposed to abortion. He thus found himself in difficulty this weekend over a referendum organized in Florida, his home state, to secure access to abortion until the fetus is able to survive outside the uterus, compared to a limit of six weeks of pregnancy currently.
“Six weeks is too short,” he first told NBC on Thursday, suggesting he would vote in favor of the proposal. Before changing his mind the next day, telling Fox News that he would vote “no.” Despite his quick turnaround, Donald Trump’s dithering on the issue has sparked a backlash among his most radical supporters.
The gap with the anti-abortion movement is widening
“If Donald Trump loses (the election), he will have lost today,” lamented conservative commentator Erick Erickson on X. The committed pro-life community could turn a blind eye to the national issues related to abortion. But for Trump to speak out as he did in Florida is too much for many.”
The knee-jerk reaction of the anti-abortion movement is not insignificant. It senses that its grip on the “Grand Old Party” is no longer as secure. The Republican Party is now entirely subservient to Donald Trump. He has redesigned the party in his image, for example by going back on its historic commitment to free trade, and has redefined its foreign policy.
Trump promises free IVF
Abortion could follow, anti-abortion activists fear. At the Republican convention in July, Donald Trump had already watered down the party’s position on the subject by dropping calls for a federal ban on abortion. He is also seeking to distance himself from the movement’s most radical positions on the subject of medically assisted reproduction. On Thursday, he pledged to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) free if elected.
A way to neutralize the Democrats’ attacks on the subject, while medically assisted procreation is now in the sights of the anti-abortion movement. The Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest evangelical denominations in the country with nearly 13 million followers, came out against IVF in June.
Last February, IVF was briefly suspended in Alabama after the state Supreme Court ruled that embryos should be treated as people, forcing the local Republican government to pass legislation to protect the procedure.
