(ConservativeSense.com) – After announcing an official position on the matter of abortion law, former President Donald Trump received backlash from fellow Republicans for taking a moderate stance and quickly fired back at his critics.
On Monday, April 8, Trump posted a video message on his social media platform Truth Social in which he laid out his official stance on abortion. The former president confirmed he would not attempt a federal abortion ban but would leave the current state of affairs post-Roe v. Wade as is, meaning to let the individual states decide based on what its voters want.
Trump’s four-minute statement began by defending access to in vitro fertilization and praised Alabama’s recent law protecting the practice, which he said most Americans and most Republicans support. The former president then clarified his position on abortion, explaining his support for making exceptions for rape, incest, or risking the mother’s life, but did not support a federal ban on the practice. Trump instead took a moderate position and said it’s up to each state “to do the right thing.”
The former president quickly received backlash from fellow Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and prominent pro-life activist Marjorie Dannenfelser. Dannenfelser responded to the announcement by calling Trump’s position deeply disappointing and calling for unborn children to be protected from “the abortion industry” at a federal level. She said leaving it to the states would only cede “the national debate to the Democrats.”
Trump quickly fired back on Truth Social, telling Graham and Dannenfelser to “study the 10th Amendment and States’ Rights.” He said that once they do, they should then try and help Republicans to “win elections” instead of “making it impossible.”
Trump also received criticism from former Vice President Mike Pence, who called his former boss’s position “a slap in the face to millions” of his pro-life voters.
Although it could win him moderates from the other side of the aisle and will be a tolerable position to moderate conservatives, there are still many hardline Republicans who were hoping Trump would make a federal abortion ban part of his re-election platform. Before this recent announcement, the former president was floating the possibility of supporting a 15-month federal ban but had not committed to the idea.
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