COLUMBIA, S.C. — A major anti-abortion group has blasted former President Donald Trump on the issue, saying his contention that abortion restrictions should be left up to individual states, not the federal government, is a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention on April 14 in Indianapolis.
The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group was responding to a statement by Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung for a Washington Post story about division among the 2024 GOP presidential field on abortion-related issues. The group has said it would not support any White House candidate who did not at a minimum support a 15-week federal abortion ban.
“The Supreme Court made clear in its decision that it was returning the issue to the people to decide through their elected representatives in the states and in Congress,” the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a news release. “Holding to the position that it is exclusively up to the states is an abdication of responsibility by anyone elected to federal office.”
The condemnation by one of the nation’s largest anti-abortion groups amounted to a stunning rebuke of the former president, the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. His three nominations of conservative judges to the Supreme Court paved the way for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide for nearly 50 years.
Cheung had told the Post that “President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the State level.”
Trump has frequently referred to himself as “the most pro-life president in history.” But in the early months of his 2024 bid, he has often sidestepped the issue of abortion, even as Republicans across the country celebrate the Supreme Court decision stripping federal constitutional rights to abortion. He won’t be among the GOP hopefuls gathering this weekend at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s spring kickoff but will instead be speaking to the group by video.
Last month in Iowa, Trump repeatedly refused to say whether he would support a federal law restricting abortion in every state, a move that anti-abortion activists have been demanding of the GOP’s presidential contenders.
“We’re looking at a lot of different things,” Trump said when asked twice by the AP whether he supports a federal abortion ban.
Dannenfelser said in the statement Thursday that “life is a matter of human rights, not states’ rights” and that Trump’s characterization of last year’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was wrong.
“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,” she said.
Pointing to a 2021 social media post from Dannenfelser’s organization calling Trump “the most pro-life president in U.S. history,” a spokesman for Trump’s campaign also noted, “Even though much work remains to be done to defend the cause of life, President Trump believes it is in the States where the greatest advances can now take place to protect the unborn.”
All of the candidates running in the Republican presidential primary or moving toward a bid have supported state bans on abortion. Most have been much more cautious about staking a position on a nationwide ban, though entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign has said he believes it’s an issue for the states, not the federal government.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who launched a presidential exploratory committee last week, has said he would support a federal law to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a state abortion ban that, if upheld by the courts, would ban the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, or before many women know they are pregnant. It will take effect only if the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives, upholds Florida’s current 15-week ban that is part of an ongoing legal challenge. The Florida ban would be one of the toughest in the U.S. But DeSantis has not made clear his position on whether such restrictions should be imposed across the country.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and one-time United Nations ambassador, has called abortion a “personal issue” that should be left to the states, though she has left open the possibility of a federal ban. Haley is scheduled to give a speech on abortion next week.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, campaigning in Iowa, stopped short of saying whether he would support a federal six- or 15-week ban as president. “Obviously I would want to look at the bill,” said Hutchinson, who as governor signed a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Trump’s stance has provided an opening on the right for potential rivals like former Vice President Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian with long-held anti-abortion views.
Pence’s advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, has pushed for Congress to pass legislation including a national abortion ban beginning around six weeks.
People in these 20 industries donated the most money to Donald Trump
People in these 20 industries donated the most money to Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump announced shortly after the midterm elections in November 2022 that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. But this time, he faces new obstacles, among them investigations into his finances and into his attempts to remain in office despite losing the presidency.
The GOP’s poor outcome in the midterms presented another hurdle, with the supposed “red wave” never materializing, leading some political pundits to point the finger at Trump’s possibly waning influence with conservatives.
Just as troubling for Trump’s campaign as the erosion of influence is the loss of wealthy donors, many of whom are turning elsewhere. The network of conservative billionaire Charles Koch will back a Republican other than Trump, CNN reported. Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of private equity firm Blackstone, told Axios he is looking for a candidate from the GOP’s “new generation.” Hedge-fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin is supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top potential GOP candidate who has still not officially announced his candidacy, and longtime Trump ally Ronald Lauder has said he will not help finance Trump’s run this time, according to CNBC.
As these deep-pocketed names look for other prospects, it’s worth taking a look at the groups and industries that donated most heavily to Trump during the 2020 election cycle.
Stacker compiled data from OpenSecrets to find the 20 industries that contributed the most to Trump’s 2020 campaign committee, as well as any super PACs or hybrid PACs working on his behalf. The “Republican or conservative” industry refers to other politicos’ PACs that have funneled money to the Trump Organization.
Some groups on this list may surprise you—the group that by far made the most in contributions and has increasingly become a significant force across the political landscape would seem to be the least likely, the most frugal, and the most suspicious. Others may seem obvious: With Trump repeatedly promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act and proposing spending reductions for Medicaid and Medicare, the appearance of the health services industry and HMOs might read as a foregone conclusion, as might the casino industry where Trump has long maintained allies, even if his own track record in this industry is less than stellar.
Click through the slides to find out which other groups were among Trump’s biggest backers.
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#20. Crop production and basic processing
– Total donated in 2020: $6,679,052
#19. Pharmaceuticals/health products
– Total donated in 2020: $6,960,879
#18. Hospitals/nursing homes
– Total donated in 2020: $7,290,381
#17. Lawyers/law firms
– Total donated in 2020: $8,035,354
#15. General contractors
– Total donated in 2020: $8,612,861
#14. Civil servants/public officials
– Total donated in 2020: $9,256,185
#13. Miscellaneous manufacturing and distributing
– Total donated in 2020: $9,800,740
#12. TV/movies/music
– Total donated in 2020: $12,146,188
#10. Oil and gas
– Total donated in 2020: $14,918,409
#9. Miscellaneous business
– Total donated in 2020: $16,731,700
#8. Securities and investment
– Total donated in 2020: $20,457,226
#7. Nonprofit institutions
– Total donated in 2020: $24,639,884
#5. Real estate
– Total donated in 2020: $34,881,832
#4. Republican/conservative
– Total donated in 2020: $39,042,801
#3. Casinos/gambling
– Total donated in 2020: $46,406,624
#2. Health services/HMOs
– Total donated in 2020: $47,281,555