On abortion rights, a polarising issue in the United States (US), former president and likely Republican presidential candidate all but in name, Donald Trump, has deferred to “the will of the people”. Trump rejected the demand for a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks of conception and said he would rather let individual states decide. Only, this splintered situation on not just legality but also the end date for abortion wherever it is legal has more or less been the case since 2022, when the US Supreme Court (SC) overturned its Roe vs Wade judgment which held that the US Constitution protected abortion rights.
It is, no doubt, a major gamble for Trump despite his lead over Democrat rival and incumbent president Joe Biden in dipstick popularity polls. His latest stance could alienate the party’s core voters — conservative and “pro-life”. Mike Pence, who served as the Trump presidency’s second-in-command, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and key Trump ally who backs the ban proposal, have already dissented. But clearly, political expediency seems to be driving Trump’s backhanded “pro-choice” support. He did say he was “proudly the person responsible” for Roe vs Wade getting overturned — his administration nominated three conservative judges to the US SC, which tipped the scales against abortion rights — but he also recognises that access to safe abortion has become an electoral issue not just in the swing states but also in Republican-voting ones (like Kentucky). Meanwhile, the Democrats have made safe and assured access (to abortion) a highlight of their agenda. To that end, whether Trump would continue to straddle the two horses if he wins should be food for thought for American voters.
