Prominent anti-abortion group ‘deeply disappointed’ in Trump’s position

Prominent anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America on Monday slammed former President Trump’s announced stance to leave abortion up to the states, deeming the position “deeply disappointing.”

“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position. Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act,” the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement. 

“Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. If successful, they will wipe out states’ rights,” she continued. 

Dannenfelser added that her group “will work tirelessly to defeat President Biden and extreme congressional Democrats.”

The remarks came after Trump said Monday that laws on abortion should be left to the states and notably did not take a position on a federal abortion ban.

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social. “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.”

“Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be,” he added. “At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart, or in many cases your religion or your faith.”

Republicans have struggled in elections up and down the ballot following the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion at the federal level. Democrats have used the issue to go on the offensive, and abortion rights advocates have been successful in enshrining abortion rights into the state constitutions in red-leaning states such as Ohio. 

Last week in Trump’s home state, Florida’s high court issued two rulings on access to abortion, one of which upheld the state’s 15-week abortion ban and allowed a ban after six weeks of pregnancy to go into effect next month. The other ruling gave the green light to a ballot measure that would protect access to abortion in the state if passed in November.

In response to the development out of Florida, President Biden’s reelection campaign rolled out a memo last week saying it will target flipping the state in November. 

Updated at 8:53 a.m. ET