Anti-abortion group reunites with Trump after scathing criticism

09 May 2023

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in 2022, former President Donald Trump praised the 5-4 decision as a victory for states' rights. But privately, Trump reportedly expressed fears that the ruling would hurt Republicans in the midterms — a prediction that proved accurate when Democrats campaigned aggressively on abortion rights and won gubernatorial races in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona.

Trump, following the midterms, continued to describe himself as "pro-life" but said he opposed a national abortion ban and believed that individual states, under Dobbs, should be allowed to decide their own abortion policies. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, slammed Trump for that position in April.

But after meeting with Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on Monday, May 8, Dannenfelser had much more favorable things to say about Trump.

In a biting April 20 statement, Dannenfelser declared, "President Trump's assertion that the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion solely to the states is a completely inaccurate reading of the Dobbs decision and is a morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate to hold. We will oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace, at a minimum, a 15-week national standard."

But Dannenfelser sounded much more pro-Trump after the May 8 meeting.

In a May 8 statement, Dannenfelser described the meeting as "terrific" and said, "His presidency was the most consequential in American history for the pro-life cause. During the meeting, President Trump reiterated his opposition to the extreme Democratic position of abortion on demand, up until the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers — and even, in some cases, after the child is born."

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly the Susan B. Anthony List) was formed in 1993 by sociologist Rachel MacNair, who had been president of the anti-abortion group Feminists For Life. MacNair's group named itself after 19th Century feminist/abolitionist Susan B. Anthony, claiming that she was anti-abortion. Many pro-choice feminists, however, have said that the group's characterization of Anthony (who died in 1906) as a staunch abortion opponent is inaccurate and that abortion isn't an issue that Anthony addressed.

Trump isn't the only abortion opponent who has expressed fears that the abortion issue could hurt Republicans politically. Right-wing author/pundit Ann Coulter, who identifies as "pro-life" and supported the Dobbs decision, has been warning that severe abortion restrictions are a liability for Republicans in swing states. And she has pointed to a recent state supreme court race in Wisconsin as an example.

In that race, liberal Janet Protasiewicz aggressively campaigned on abortion rights and relentlessly attacked her opponent, far-right MAGA Republican Dan Kelly, on that issue. It worked; Protasiewicz was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by around 11 percent.

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