“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in the video.
“Many states will be different. Many states will have a different number of weeks…at the end of the day it is all about the will of the people.”
I'm as staunch a pro life person as there is, so I believe there is not only a moral obligation to protect life but also a legal one. And while a fetus that is, say, six weeks along would obviously not be viable outside the womb, I believe their personhood is established and thus should be protected from an intentional homicide. Sure, my position is considered "outside the mainstream," but legislation allowing abortion until moments before birth is as well. Heck, I could argue "late term abortion" is far more inhumane than advocating that an unplanned pregnancy be carried until birth.
Of course, Trump is making the politically expedient move here. While he's previously indicated that he believes abortion should be allowed up until 15 weeks, he didn't advocate for such legislation to be passed were he to win the presidency. Ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned nearly 2 years ago, progs have desired to codify Roe into federal law. But as Charles C.W. Cooke argued back in March 2022, such a move would be flatly unconstitutional.
Like the Supreme Court, Congress simply does not have the power to decide this question for the states. That is not what Congress is for, or has ever been for. There is no generalized police power vested in the federal government, and it is not permitted to exercise one simple because Americans feel strongly about the question from both sides. There exist a handful circumstances in which the federal government may regulate the killing of human brings — if a murder victim is a federal judge, federal official, federal law enforcement officer, or is killed at sea or on federal property, for example — but, outside of those narrow confines, there are no national laws prohibiting (or mandating) homicide, because there is no federal power to prohibit (or mandate) homicide.
As I've said many times on this blog as well as on my radio show is we could have the most radical pro abortion laws possibly conjured up (and in Minnesota, we pretty much do), but the battle for hearts and minds on the issue can never cease. Yes, I get there are going to be obstacles given the fact terminating an unwanted pregnancy has been given the Orwellian relabel of "women's healthcare." As such, love and compassion is essential when broaching the issue.
In the end, having the issue remain unresolved may more valuable to the left. They believed they effectively used the abortion issue to stave off bigger GOP gains in the 2022 midterms, so they are hoping to use it as a wedge yet again in this year's presidential cycle. But in a rare instance of borderline political savvy, Trump didn't give them a lifeline.
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