LOS ANGELES.–Former President Donald Trump, 77, said at a Fox News town hall meeting hosted by Martha McCallum and Bret Baier last night that he was proud of pick three conservative Supreme Court justices that eventually ended 1973 Roe v. Wade, the established precedent legalizing abortion in the United States. Trump knows that it’s a loser issue for Republicans, knowing that a WSJ/NORC polls showed that 55% of U.S. respondents support abortion rights. While former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis battled on a CNN debate stage, Trump touted picking conservative justices that overturned June 23, 2022 Roe v. Wade. Trump acknowledged that the abortion issue was a loser for the GOP, since most voters want the government to stay out of medical decision-making. Trump is backed by the Evangelical, anti-abortion vote in Iowa.
If Haley has any shot of beating Trump, it will be in New Hampshire Jan. 23, where the state’s independent voters believe Roe v. Wade best express their views on women’s rights. Trump was asked by Iowa voter whether his anti-abortion stance was better than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who has a six-week window in which abortions can be performed. “[For] 54 years, the were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did,” Trump said. “And I’m proud to have done it,” touting his pick of conservatives Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kamanaugh and Amy Coney-Barrett, all of whom voted to end Roe v. Wade. In their Senate Confirmation hearings, all three justices were asked about Roe v. Wade. All three said it was established legal precedent, settled law, and refused to answer how they would rule in the future if Roe v. Wade were challenged.
All three Trump appointees voted in favor of Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, saying in overturning Roe v. Wade that the Constitution did not afford women a federal right to abortion. But Roe v. Wade was not only about abortion but about a women’s right to medical privacy, allowing decisions between doctors and patients. No one at the 1787 Constitutional Convention was concerned about abortion, not including it in any Constitutional rights. But that doesn’t mean as the U.S. evolved over two centuries that the Supreme Court would extend Constitutional rights just like they did with the expanded Bill of Rights, adding more Constitutional protections for a modern age. Trump is proud of his conservative picks but all three misrepresented their position on Roe v. Wade by telling the Senate Judiciary Committee it was established legal precedent.
Once the Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade, Trump recognized the political backlash for Republicans, handing Democrats another issue to run on. Biden’s campaign team has already used the end of Roe v. Wade to summons support from disgruntled women unhappy with the conservative majority’s ruling. Putting abortion back into states’ rights means that every state can fashion its own abortion laws based on prevailing local sentiment. Roe v. Wade took the abortion issue out of the hands of Evangelicals or other religions groups and gave medical empowerment back to women with federal protections. Majority of U.S. women do not support the end of Roe v. Wade, believing that state governments do not have a right to set policies, forcing women to go to more liberal states like California to get abortions when they find the necessity.
Trump isn’t a fan of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis strict abortion ban, calling it “terrible. Yet Trump takes credit for helping to end Roe v. Wade by picking conservative justices. So, it’s a double edge sword, ending Roe v. Wade and putting medical decision-making into the hands of states’ rights that don’t always jibe with the Constitution. While the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it doesn’t mean that it was the right thing to do. Implementing restrictive statewide abortion bans turns back the clock on medical decision-making, putting it into the hands of state bureaucrats with regional preferences. “You have to win elections,” Trump said last night at the Fox News town hall. “Otherwise you’re not going to be back where you were, and you can’t let that ever happen again,” referring to the sorry state of affairs under the Biden administration.
Trump correctly recognizes the national fallout with women from the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. While pro-life group ranted against Roe v. Wade for over 50 years, it’s now a new ballot issue against Republicans. Biden has already used the abortion issue to rally support for his 2024 reelection, deliberately obscuring the pressing issues facing the United States. Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine has pushed Russia and China into an economic, military and strategic alliance, making global cooperation more difficult for the U.S., Russia and China. Generations of U.S. presidents worked feverishly on nuclear arms control, a staple with every administration since WW II. Biden is the first U.S. president to go to war against the Kremlin, turning Russia from strategic partner into mortal enemy. Biden has done the same thing with China, threatening war over Taiwan. Whether abortion is on the ballot or not, it obscures the urgent issues facing America.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.