Trump softens on abortion, displeasing anti-abortion backers : NPR

Anti-abortion rights activists are raising concerns about recent comments from former President Donald Trump, in which he appears to be trying to soften his position on abortion.

In a Friday post on Truth Social, Trump — whose appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court helped overturn a constitutional right to an abortion — said, “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.”

That statement followed an interview with CBS News earlier in the week, in which Trump indicated he would not use a 19th century anti-obscenity law to restrict abortion pills, as some activists have suggested.

Trump told CBS that he “generally speaking would not” use the 1873 Comstock Act to restrict access to the medication.

“It’s gonna be available and it is now,” Trump said.

A political calculation

Trump’s remarks came on the heels of last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in which abortion rights were a major theme — and as Republicans worry the issue could hurt them at the ballot box in November. Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, voters have repeatedly signaled support for access to abortion.

Trump has stressed that he believes regulation of abortion should be left to the states. But his latest comments have prompted pushback from some abortion rights opponents, who make up a key part of the Republican base.

Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, called Trump’s comments “concerning.” In a statement to the National Review, Pence said, “The former President’s use of the language of the Left, pledging that his administration would be ‘great for women and their reproductive rights’ should be concerning for millions of pro-life Americans.”

Earlier this year, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, expressed disappointment with Trump’s position of leaving abortion to the states. In a post on X this weekend, Dannenfelser reacted to Trump’s recent comments, saying, “The cause is way bigger and younger than Donald Trump. It will shape the GOP beyond this Trump moment.”

But abortion-rights opponents are sticking with the Republican nominee.

Dannenfelser said she sees the potential election of Vice President Harris and other Democrats as the most “urgent threat” to her cause in the short term.

And in a statement on X, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America expressed a similar sentiment, calling Trump “wrong on abortion,” but adding, “I will be voting for him in November with hope as I have zero hope in Kamala Harris…”

Abortion pills and federal law

In an interview with NPR, Hawkins — whose group has pushed for using Comstock to restrict abortion — also voiced disappointment with Trump’s recent comments about the 1873 federal law.

“I think it sets the wrong tone to say that some laws like Comstock will not be enforced,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins says she hopes that if Trump is elected, he will choose cabinet members and other federal officials who would be open to using Comstock, and the federal regulatory system, to restrict abortion.

The Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of materials deemed “obscene,” and specifically mentions items used to induce abortion. But the law hasn’t been enforced for decades, according to legal experts.

And Trump, speaking to CBS, indicated he has no plans to change that.

“[Abortion] shouldn’t be in the halls of the federal government; it should be in the state governments,” Trump said in the CBS interview. “I was able to bring it back to the state governments and now the people are voting.”

In a statement, Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, suggested that Trump’s recent comments on abortion indicate Republicans are concerned the issue could be a liability as they look toward November.

Lawson said that Trump is largely responsible for the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, because of his selection of conservative justices.

The statement also noted that Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, signed a letter last year publicly calling on federal officials to use the Comstock Act to restrict abortion pills.

Vance is now moving in alignment with Trump. Speaking to NBC News in recent days Vance said Trump would veto a national abortion ban.

“Donald Trump and JD Vance are hitting the panic button and trying to rewrite history when it comes to their records on banning abortion and restricting reproductive freedom,” Lawson said.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.