By Kate Scanlon
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Former President Donald Trump recently wrote on social media that his administration would be “great for reproductive rights,” a term often used by those who advocate for legal abortion, followed by his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, promising Trump would veto a national abortion ban.
The comments from the pair on the Republican presidential ticket come after delegates at the Republican National Convention approved a new party platform in July that removed a longstanding call for federal abortion restrictions at 20 weeks — legislation aimed at protecting just over 1% of unborn children aborted every year — and stated that Republicans will “protect and defend a vote of the people, from within the states, on the issue of life.”
On Aug. 23, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” The post may have been in reference to an address delivered the same evening by his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, who said Trump would “enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress.”
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Aug. 25, Vance said his running mate would “absolutely commit” to not imposing a federal abortion ban.
“Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue,” Vance said, adding Trump “wants to end this culture war over this particular topic.”
“If Kamala, excuse me, if California wants to have a different abortion policy from Ohio, then Ohio has to respect California, and California has to respect Ohio,” Vance said.
Vance said that Trump would veto a national abortion ban passed by Congress.
“I mean, if you’re not supporting it as the president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it,” he said in an interview that aired Aug. 25.
Trump has previously stated he would veto such a ban if re-elected.
Many pro-life activists — among them Catholic leaders — were critical of the comments, while some argued their view the Democratic platform on abortion was more problematic.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Trump and Vance would “win zero votes by gutting the RNC platform on life, saying they support abortion pills and ‘reproductive rights,’ and saying they would veto abortion bans.”
Voters who support expanding abortion access, she argued, “are already voting Harris/Walz.”
“Trying to sound like a Democrat on abortion isn’t going to help Trump. It hurts him,” she argued. “It’s politically unwise and morally wrong. It would help Trump campaign to cut the pro-abortion rhetoric and instead say, ‘I will fight for life. Children are precious and worth fighting for. I will do everything to protect LIFE and help American families.’ Many people would love to support Trump, but becoming like Democrat on abortion hurts him.”
Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, wrote in a post on X, “We must not lose sight of the fact that the human rights issue of abortion takes the lives of the unborn, deeply harms women mentally and physically and can never be reduced to politics alone, much less sacrificed for what is perceived to be politically expedient.”
“The stakes are simply too high; we must protect and value women and their babies through life- affirming state and federal legislation,” Mancini said. “The pro-life community understands that the debate around this issue can never be fully resolved until the day that the tragedy of abortion is unthinkable. Until then, we will march and advocate for our society’s most vulnerable who are suffering as a result of this tragic human rights abuse.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, whose organization previously sought a commitment from Republican candidates in the party’s primary to support a federal ban on elective abortion at 15 weeks, wrote on X, “The cause is way bigger and younger than Donald Trump.”
“It will shape the GOP beyond this Trump moment,” Dannenfelser said. “Nothing will deter this movement because it is about saving lives and truly serving women. The short term urgent threat? Harris-walz and all Senate candidates promising unlimited 6,7,8,9 month abortion as the only option for women.”
Trump has previously blamed the issue of abortion and pro-life voters for the Republican Party’s underperformance in the 2022 midterm election cycle. Analysts, by contrast, blamed in part quality issues with Republican campaigns in that cycle and Trump’s repeated, unproven claims of a stolen 2020 election for the party’s underperformance.
However, since the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that reversed its previous abortion precedent, voters in several states have enacted abortion protections as the result of ballot measures: voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it. But abortion itself will be on the ballot again in several states in November, including Florida, Nevada and Arizona, where closely-watched races for the U.S. Senate are also taking place.
Abortion rates, which began steadily creeping up in 2017 after a nearly three decade decline, have jumped in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion data, abortions in 2023 were up 11% over 2020, the last year for which Guttmacher has comprehensive abortion estimates. The 2023 data represents the first full year after Dobbs created a “fractured abortion landscape” where some states have enacted significant abortion bans or restrictions, while others have moved to expand access.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.