Trump can’t change his stripes on abortion

“Lie” is such a loaded word that I hesitate to use it, even when talking about a pathological liar. So, let’s just say that Donald Trump has made a string of amazing “misstatements” lately. Like: The crowd of 15,000 that showed up to greet Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Detroit was AI-generated. Like: Harris had not identified as being Black until recently. Like: Harris met with Vladimir Putin three days before Russia invaded Ukraine. 

But Trump’s biggest lie — sorry, “misstatement” — is the one he posted just last Friday on Truth Social: “My administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” There’s no way he can say that with a straight face.  

After all, in 2016 Trump campaigned on eliminating Roe v. Wade, promising to appoint “pro-life” judges who would overturn it. He made good on that promise by picking Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. And on many occasions since July 24, 2022, when the court issued its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe, Trump has claimed credit for it. 

Speaking to the Faith & Freedom Coalition on the anniversary of Dobbs, Trump called himself the “most pro-life president ever” and bragged: “We terminated Roe v. Wade.” In May 2023, Trump posted on Truth Social: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the shock of everyone.” And in a recent interview with CBS News, Trump claimed: “Everybody wanted to overturn Roe for 52 years and I got it done.” He then added: “No, no regrets.”  

Politics may be celebrated as the “art of the possible,” but it’s simply impossible for Trump to brag about killing Roe v. Wade and then promise to protect women’s reproductive rights. Especially when the Heritage Foundation’s 900-plus page “Project 2025,” a possible blueprint for a second Trump administration prepared by the Heritage Foundation, specifically calls for withdrawing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market and enforcing a “biblically-based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family” — which many interpret as code words for national bans on contraception, gay marriage and abortion. 

Of course, there’s no secret why Trump is trying frantically to backpaddle on abortion: He knows it’s a political loser. Republicans should have learned that lesson in 2020 and 2022, when angry women voters turned out in unprecedented numbers to reject anti-abortion rights Republican candidates. They should also have learned that lesson after any one of several state ballot measures.

Since the Dobbs decision, abortion rights initiatives have been on the ballot in seven states, starting with the red state of Kansas. Every single one of them has won. Across the country, abortion has proven to be the major force driving voter registration and voter turnout.  

And that will prove to be even more true this year, with 10 states (Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, New York and Nebraska) asking voters whether to enshrine abortion rights in their constitution. In each state, that will be the No. 1 issue on the ballot. The outcome of those ballot measures alone could decide who wins the presidency and at least 18 battleground seats in the House. 

Knowing its political peril, Donald Trump is trying hard to distance himself from a hardline anti-abortion position. But it just won’t work. He can’t brag about killing Roe v. Wade and promise to protect women’s rights at the same time. On abortion, Trump has already made his bed. Now he must lie in it. And lose. 

Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”