By prioritizing political strategy over the positions defended by opponents of abortion, Donald Trump arouses the anger of some American conservatives, without having the guarantee that his electoral calculation will pay off.
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The Republican, candidate for the November presidential election, clarified his position on Monday on the thorny subject of abortion rights, seeming to rule out the possibility of a ban on abortion on a national scale and returning this responsibility to the States.
Since the cancellation in 2022 of the federal guarantee of the right to abortion by the American Supreme Court, of which Donald Trump was the architect, each American state has regained the freedom to legislate on the subject.
Around twenty states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion. A victory for the conservatives, who however hope to go further and obtain restriction or ban at the federal level.
By welcoming the action of the Supreme Court judges while not mentioning a national measure, Donald Trump on Monday created incomprehension and anger among several conservative figures and organizations, the powerful anti-abortion association Susan B. Anthony saying “ deeply disappointed.”
This “setback” constitutes “a slap in the face” for the millions of opponents of abortion who voted for him in 2016 and in 2020, castigated his former vice-president Mike Pence, a fervent Christian who had allowed him to stand. acquire the favor of the religious right during his first presidential campaign.
The influential Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he “disagrees” with the former president, to whom he is nevertheless close.
Donald Trump hit the nail on the head on Wednesday by criticizing the decision of the Arizona Supreme Court, ruling that an 1864 law banning almost all abortions in this key state, narrowly won by Joe Biden in 2020, was applicable.
Asked whether this measure went “too far,” Donald Trump responded in the affirmative, continuing: “I think the governor and everyone else will come back to something reasonable.”
Risky bet
The former president, who constantly changed his position on the subject during his political career, indicated in March that he could support a national ban beyond 15 or 16 weeks.
By returning to these remarks, Donald Trump hopes in particular to spare the moderate or independent female electorate, who have shown themselves to be concerned about the consequences of such bans.
The Supreme Court’s decision on the subject cost the Republican camp dearly: in addition to disappointing results in the mid-term elections at the end of 2022, the conservatives have lost every referendum or vote addressing the issue of abortion.
Donald Trump thus called on his disgruntled allies to focus “on helping the Republicans win elections, rather than making the task impossible for them” by stubbornly defending a national ban on abortion after a certain number of weeks.
By reviewing his line, the former president is taking the risk of alienating a part of his electorate who is very attached to this issue.
If these voters are in no way going to vote for outgoing President Joe Biden, this turnaround could however “play on their mobilization” and harm the Republican, notes Heather Ondercin, professor of political science at Appalachian University, to AFP.
“He believes that he has sufficiently satisfied them by appointing (conservative judges) to the Supreme Court,” she explains, noting that Donald Trump does not fail to say that he is “proud” of the role he played in this turnaround.
And despite his recent comments, “he clearly remains in the anti-abortion camp,” she said.
Big titles
Donald Trump above all hopes to remove the subject of the right to abortion from the main issues of the presidential election in order to focus on his favorite themes: immigration, crime.
But the task will be difficult, the subject making headlines in the newspapers in particular because of the states, like Arizona, which continue to legislate on this subject.
And the Democrats, who have capitalized on their defense of the right to abortion, intend to continue to make it a major argument to re-elect Joe Biden. “He will not rest until abortion is banned in all 50 states,” the Democrat’s campaign team reaffirmed Tuesday.
