Achi news desk-
Donald Trump has openly declared abortion a political liability for the GOP – and some anti-abortion advocates fear his latest stance has given allied Republicans the green light to move left, jeopardizing their hard-fought gains possibly at the state level.
The former president kicked off last week with a video announcement on abortion: It should be left to the states, he said, talking about his role in reversing Roe and give them that authority. “The only issue [Democrats] thought they had it on abortion, and now all I’m saying is that the states are handling it and it’s completely killed that issue,” he added later.
That was bad enough for advocates who had been lobbying him to support a federal ban, but – perhaps more worryingly for them – Trump went on to urge Arizona to “redress” its Supreme Court ruling that considered that the abortion ban of 1864 almost entirely remains. in effect, and he predicted that Florida would “probably” change its six-week restriction.
In effect, Trump’s statements gave MAGA voters and politicians a permission slip to break with anti-abortion groups. Within days, two of his most prominent allied politicians in every state began to do so. Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake supported Trump’s opposition to the federal law, and said the Arizona ruling was “out of step with where the people of this state are,” a reversal of her previous support for the state law. Particularly charming to social conservatives, Lake declared in a video – without going specific – that she wanted to propose to pregnant women “more choices,” the kind of language typically associated with abortion rights supporters.
On Monday, Senator Rick Scott weighed in on the existing six-week Florida restriction signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying he would support a less restrictive statewide 15-week ban in the name of “consensus.” Trump has previously visited Scott, who is up for re-election, as a potential Senate majority leader.
For many advocates, Trump’s criticism of abortion bans was a step too far, even as they stressed they still support Trump over President Biden.
“Nobody would believe me if I said I wasn’t worried. I’m obviously concerned and it’s definitely a gut-checking moment for people who have been pro-life for a very long time,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told Semafor. “I mean, no one could argue that Republicans switching jobs is a move in the right direction — and there are a number of senators who have done that.”
A national ban would already have been a heavy lift and it’s still unlikely that GOP legislatures will start rolling back restrictions anytime soon. But Arizona and Florida face ballot initiatives this November that could guarantee access to abortion as a right, potentially eliminating post-.Roe restrictions in two of the country’s biggest battleground states. Deep red states have already voted in favor of abortion access when offered the chance before; Republicans waving their state bans could be a powerful signal to rank-and-file voters.
Looking longer term, Dannenfelser asked “whether the Republican Party can be sustained without the support of a reasonable pro-life position and the movement that goes with that.” If they choose to walk away from the movement, “there’s a big realignment ahead of them.”
For some religious conservatives, it’s a I told you so moment. Trump’s rise was initially greeted with skepticism in the evangelical community in his first run, including from some leaders who warned that tying their cause to a recent abortion rights supporter with a sicker personal life would eventually come back to bite the movement .
“My long-term fear was that the moral credibility of the pro-life movement and other movements associated with this person would be a mistake,” Dr. Russell Moore, a prominent Trump critic and editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, told Semafor.
The core anti-abortion believers will continue to make their case, of course. But “the consent structure now being built will continue to move in that direction,” Moore said, as Trump’s takeover of the party slowly pushes politicians away from the GOP’s longtime commitment to the cause .
“My gut is that the nation is moving towards two pro-choice parties,” he said.
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The Trump post gave MAGA politicians permission to move left on abortion. Some take it. – Semafor appeared first on Canada News Media.
