Is the issue of a federal abortion ban just a ‘spot on the wall in the basement’ for Trump?
For the first time in 40 years, the Republican platform omits support for a federal abortion ban. Is it a sign that President Donald Trump has “moved to the center on key issues”? NBC News asked Eric Trump this week. He replied:
“I think he’s always been there on those issues, to tell you the truth, I think that’s reflective of who my father is, and what he believes in, and I think that’s reflective of my wife Lara, who runs the RNC, and what she believes in. I’m proud of the party. At the end of the day, this country has real holes in the roof and you’ve got to fix those holes and you’ve got to stop worrying about the spot on the wall in the basement. You’ve got to fix those holes.”
The subject of life, for a good faction of Republicans, is foundational. Some Republicans, however, seem to think that Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade exempts him from a serious discussion of what his administration can now do to protect life at the federal level. This year’s platform says that Republicans “will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” whereas the previous platform said that “the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.”
Barring a debate over the federal abortion ban, there were provisions Trump could have made regarding the party’s stance on the federal government’s role in the abortion issue — provisions that delegates and Republicans in general should demand from their nominee. Dan McLaughlin’s piece from last week explains: “What is conspicuously absent here is any discussion of what the federal government under Joe Biden is already doing to promote abortion with federal funds, on federal property, through federal executive order and federal agency action, and in lawsuits aimed at restricting states from enforcing their pro-life laws. That is where a pro-life president could do the most good, much of it right away.” Also, this from Dan:
At a minimum, pro-lifers should want to see rolled back the various Biden administration legal initiatives and challenges to state abortion laws, as well as rolling back federal funding for abortion and the use of federal facilities to perform abortion. The federal government should take seriously the Comstock Act, which after all is an actual federal law, and that at least means stopping the use of interstate mails to send abortion pills into states where their use is illegal.
A charitable reason why Trump might not have gone into detail on any of the above issues is that the RNC’s platform was shortened deliberately this year. But Republicans had to vote on the platform, and they could’ve pushed back, demanded more, or asked for clarification on key issues. What’s followed has instead been an apathetic response from delegates and pro-life organizations who now pledge to support the party platform regardless of Trump’s lukewarm stance.
RNC delegates have fallen in line with Trump. Alabama delegate Robin Rowan said that “we’re in a new era, where [abortion has] been brought back down to the states.” Michigan and New York delegates told Axios that, while they disagree with their states’ abortion policies, they think it important for states to adopt their own policies. Washington State delegate Brenda Milewski said, “Now the state is taking care of their people based on the culture.” Michigan delegate Ken Crider said, “Even though I am an ultra conservative on the pro-life issue, because of my life circumstances, I believe that it should have been a state issue not a federal issue.”
RNC chairman Michael Whatley said in defense of the platform that “you can just look at the number of pro-life groups from across the country that have come in and said that they strongly support this platform.”
He’s right. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said this week that “the GOP reaffirmed its commitment to protect unborn life today through the 14th Amendment. Under this amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces its provisions. The Republican Party remains strongly pro-life at the national level.” SBA, however, said last year that leaving abortion exclusively up to the states is a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.”
Which is it?
SBA also bashed then–presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for sidestepping the issue of a federal abortion ban in July 2023. “A pro-life president has a duty to protect the lives of all Americans,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, SBA president, said. “Gov. DeSantis’s dismissal of this task is unacceptable to prolife voters. A consensus is already formed. Intensity for it is palpable and measurable.” She also said that, although there are “many pressing legislative issues for which Congress does not have the votes at the moment,” that is “not a reason for a strong leader to back away from the fight. This is where presidential leadership matters most.”