Some hardline conservatives are starting to doubt Donald Trump's assurances that he'd make abortion restrictions a priority in a second presidency.
One leading activist said her phone was "blowing up" last week with angry calls and texts from other Students for Life members who were threatening to sit out canvassing efforts after Trump criticized Florida's six-week abortion ban, but that group's leader told Politico that the GOP nominee needed to reassure anti-abortion activists by identifying judges he planned to nominate or fellow advocates he would place in top jobs.
“It would be nice to be able to say that President Trump is with us, that he has promised to appoint pro-life experts who will abide by the Constitution,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action. “We want to be able to go back to our base and be able to show them that President Trump, despite what they’ve heard in the media, despite some of his confusing or cutesy tweets, is still going to be a plus in the column for the pro-life movement.”
Trump publicly rejected Florida's Amendment 4 ballot initiative that would protect abortion rights after a lobbying blitz from anti-abortion leaders who were concerned about his comments on the state's ban, which he said was too short at six weeks, but they remain upset about his off-the-cuff pledge to guarantee free IVF services, his promise to support “reproductive rights" and his refusal to use the Comstock Act to stop mail delivery of abortion medication as he campaigns for re-election.
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“Ever since it became clear that Trump was going to sew up the nomination, you would hear from conservatives: ‘Look, he’s got to say what he’s got to say to get elected, but once he’s in office, and we have a staunch pro-lifer as the head of HHS using the deep state for conservative ends, then it’ll be all worth it,’” said Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. “But all these people are not from the traditional, conservative base of the party, and maybe that’s the right political strategy, but on substance, it is totally concerning.”
Abortion foes were relieved by Trump's choice of J.D. Vance as running mate, but they're concerned about his recent appointments of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to a transition team chaired by Linda McMahon, because all three have a history of supporting abortion rights.
“The challenge for the Trump team is this comes on the heels of him walking away from pro-life positions,” said Marc Short, former White House legislative affairs director and Mike Pence’s chief of staff. “In combination, there is more than just smoke, it seems to be a real fire.”
