Donald Trump's increasing statements that the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling that, for all practical purposes, overturned Roe v. Wade hurt Republicans in the 2022 midterms is setting off alarms with anti-abortion leaders who feel he is no longer on their side and that they are being played.
In a speech last week the former president took credit for putting in place three new members on the Supreme Court who had no qualms about throwing out Roe after fifty years which, in turn, created a firestorm and became a rallying point from Democrats in the 2022 election.
Likely with that in mind, in that same speech, the former president seemed to hint that abortion talk should be taken off the table until after the 2024 general election and that has anti-choice activists feeling betrayed.
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According to a report from Politico, "As his GOP opponents have seized on the comments, hoping to close a wide polling gap by attacking Trump as a fair-weather conservative, the anti-abortion movement finds itself at a crossroads â afraid of alienating the presumptive nominee but loath to let his remarks go unchallenged."
Patrick Brown of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Centerâs Life and Family Initiative complained, "Are pro-lifers going to allow themselves to be a cheap date? Are they going to sit back and take it when candidates are denigrating the cause they dedicated their life to?â
Kristan Hamrick, the 38-year-old chief policy strategist with Students for Life of America warned the former president that her group plans to hold Trump's feet to the fire on the issue.
"He wonât feel pressure until itâs applied, and weâre willing to apply it,â she bluntly stated. âYou cannot ignore the human rights issue of our time and still get our vote.â
Billy Valentine of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which plans to invest $78 million to get out the vote effort said Trump may lose some of those very voters they are reaching out to.
âLooking at a general, heâs going to need all Republicans to come home if heâs going to beat Joe Biden," Valentine explained. "Heâs going to need the base in order to win ultimately, and heâs going to need a clear position. In the absence of a clear position, the Democrats are going to define him.â
Top Trump rival Gov. D Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is warning anti-choice activists that Trump is preparing to "sell them out."
âI donât know how you can even make the claim that youâre somehow pro-life if youâre criticizing states for enacting pro-life protections for babies that have heartbeats,â he charged.
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