Anti-abortion advocates are reading between the lines
What to know about Trump’s abortion announcement The easiest way for Trump to move the needle on abortion policy during a second term is through executive action — a topic he did not address Monday. Anti-abortion advocates told POLITICO they don’t view Trump’s declaration that abortion should be left to the states as an indication that he has ruled out using administrative levers to curb abortion during his second term, such as through enforcement of the federal Comstock Act, an 1873 long-dormant law that bans mail delivery of “lewd or lascivious material,” including contraceptives and drugs used for abortion.
Read more at Politico
Trump’s “moderation” on abortion is a lie
When Texas forces a woman pregnant with a fatally ill fetus to carry it to term — even at the risk of suffering uterine rupture and infertility — that is a consequence of the Trump presidency. When a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio must travel across state lines to have an abortion, that is a testament to Trump’s legacy. When Alabama disrupts fertility services by declaring that embryos have the same rights as people, those frozen bunches of cells have Trump to thank.
Read more at Vox
Trump Bets That Voters Will Buy His Feigned Moderation On Abortion
Nowhere in the video does Trump say that his devotion to state autonomy is so great that he won’t sign a federal ban, should he win the White House and his party, Congress.
He doesn’t promise not to appoint a Food and Drug Administration commissioner who would revoke the authorization of abortion drug mifepristone, something anti-abortion activists are trying to do in federal court currently (the Supreme Court is poised to hand down a decision on reimposing restrictions on the drug). He doesn’t take the 19th century Comstock Act off the table, something his Department of Justice could use without any new legislation to keep mifepristone and its (currently) less regulated partner, misoprostol, from being mailed.
Read more at Talking Points Memo
Trump Won’t Let Anti-Abortion Politics Wreck His Bid To Avoid Jail
The “let the states decide” position is in many ways the long-standing position of anti-Roe Republicans. At least ostensibly. It was in reality a thin veil of pseudo-federalism and a poor disguise for the true goal of outlawing abortions. Trump has now embraced that as a fallback position, but it placates no one and is strongly held only insofar as it serves his electoral ambitions.
Remember: Trump must win to avoid prison. He’s not going to let abortion politics foil his strategy to save himself.
Read more at Talking Points Memo
Trump backs away from national abortion ban, makes clear he’s OK with state bans
At the same time, Trump’s announcement leaves key questions unanswered on an issue that has become pivotal for many voters. He didn’t rule out restricting abortion through executive power, an approach top conservative groups have been studying for months. This avenue has been their primary focus, rather than action in Congress. And, while the former president said he supports access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), he did not say how or if he would take action to protect that access.
Read more at 19th News
Trump Says Abortion Should Be Left To States Despite Recently Floating National Ban
While Trump bragged about his role in overturning Roe, the end of federal abortion guarantees has become both a health care quagmire for patients and an electoral disaster for the GOP. In virtually every state where abortion rights have been put on the ballot, Republicans have been handily defeated. In red states that have attempted to further restrict access to comprehensive reproductive health care — or where trigger bans went into effect in the aftermath of Roe — studies have already shown an increase in adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Read more at Rolling Stone