If you talk to people in the anti-abortion movement, they are very upset about the state of affairs in America.
Despite the headline wins they’ve had in recent years – like, say, being overthrown Roe v. Wade (1973) – thought they would accomplish much more.
Granted, they have a few things going for them: Republican allies in Congress. The Supreme Court has been sympathetic to their cause. And the man they helped return to the White House, Donald Trump, who has accepted his name most “pro-life” president forever.
And yet, leaders in the anti-abortion movement are sounding the alarm and describing this as their movement’s defining moment.
“If the Republican Party fully pursues this state-only strategy and abandons its pro-life promises at the national level, then the movement as we know it is over,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told members at SBA’s April gala. “There are more abortions in America now than there were the day Roe Wade was overturned.”
One of the biggest regrets of the movement is that the Trump administration has accepted a system of control mail order abortion pillslargely deferring to states rather than calling for a national ban on abortion.
Philip WegmanWhite House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, is the author of a recent piece “The anti-abortion movement is turning on Trump.” He joined Today, It’s Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram discusses why the anti-abortion movement felt victorious a few years ago, but now they’re so far behind.
The following is part of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get the podcast, including Apple Podcasts, Pandoraand Spotify.
These lobbying groups thought that the decision from the Supreme Court was overturned Roe v. Wade it would mean fewer abortions in the United States. What? Was it kind of bad for them to think so?
Surely there was an expectation that once Roe was changed, there would be all kinds of other fights – that they would fight this in all 50 states.
At the same time, though, these anti-abortion groups are of the opinion that Dobbs The decision leaves room for federal action. And what they’re upset about right now is that Trump, in their minds, has a lot on their hands. Not only does he not want a federal ban on abortion, but his administration has moved forward with the approval of a generic version of mifepristone. They have adhered to Biden-era regulations that allow a woman to order these drugs over the phone and not have to go see a doctor in person.
They believe that the Republicans are standing still while the Democrats, and frankly, this is supported by the report, they say that they want to coordinate. Roe. So for these “pro-lifers,” it is existence.
These groups you are talking about, can we get more specific? Who are we talking about here?
There are many different groups here. When it comes to the “pro-life” lobby, there are Americans United for Life, the March for Life, the Family Research Council, but the most politically connected is the Susan B. Anthony List. If a member of Congress gets a call from the March for Life, they pick up the phone eager to talk. If they get a call from the Susan B. Anthony List, they might be sweating.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, is very politically active. The entire group are long-time knife fighters and put the Republican Party on notice earlier this month when they announced they would spend $160 million, not just in the next term, but in the 2028 Republican presidential primary.
The “pro-lifers” at the SBA, have made no secret of their frustration. They were angry with FDA administrator Marty Makary because he approved the generic pill (the mifepristone pill). So last December, they wanted Makary to be fired. They have become a kind of saber rattling. But in our interview with him, he told the Wall Street Journal, “The president is the problem.” That’s a direct quote.
He believes that Trump, who was pro-life as you can in 2016 and again in 2020, has sidelined the issue.
The President met with people from the Susan B. Anthony List, including their leader Marjorie (Dannenfelser), last week. Do we know how differently Marjorie and the president view the 2028 midterms and elections?
The pro-life lobby thinks there is a way for Republicans to run away from abortion and not run away from it. They’re going to spend a lot of money in these coming sessions, but they’re also going to spend a ton of money in the next presidential primary. And the expectation here is that any candidate who will support him must accept federal action on the issue of abortion.
Marjorie told the Wall Street Journal in our report that the president, who has been staunchly and openly pro-life…remember, in 2016, there’s that moment on the debate stage where he says that Hillary Clinton is the same as “partial abortion” and he makes that clear.
That made all the social conservatives stop thinking twice about this billionaire playboy from New York and instead see him as a social conservative champion. Well, in the 2024 election, Trump says, “Hey, I nominated three pro-life Supreme Court justices. My job is done. I’m going to focus on other things.” And when Marjorie went to Trump and said, “Hey, we need federal action, I need you to step in,” the answer she got was, “No. This issue is killing us.”
There is a belief within the current administration that if they didn’t have to deal with abortion, then maybe the Republicans would be picking up a few extra seats. Therefore, putting this meeting on the schedule is very important because it shows that the White House knows, look, we have to serve this part of our union. We have to get on board with them. Perhaps it shows that the administration believed that they left the core constituency out of the fold.
It’s pretty clear when you look at his decades-long history of weighing every last issue that abortion didn’t weigh heavily on the president’s mind until it was politically expedient to do so.
Do you really think if, say, JD Vance comes in 2027 or so he starts advocating for a federal abortion ban, a 20-week abortion ban, whatever it might be, that it’s going to upset President Trump?
You know, (with) Donald Trump, I think everything is transactional. And so where you have pro-lifers who are motivated by one principle, and then you have a politician who is motivated by getting the best deal he can, do they get back on the same page? Or is this a break?
And look, the anti-abortion lobby has been one of the most loyal constituencies for Republicans for decades. This is the story of the Trump era. He’s coming out and tearing the veil over Republican reality, remaking the party in his own image. There are some things he really cares about. Trade, immigration, foreign policy. In all other areas, there is now no gatekeeper to say what is and is not conservative. And they all have a kind of freedom that went into having this argument.
Some people, like pro-lifers, say this has been a party platform issue for decades. It cannot change. It should not change. They are not just looking to change the direction of the existing regime. They look to the future of the party and say, “What will Republicans believe in 2028?” And their argument is that any definition of conservatism must include strict restrictions on abortion.
In the past, many Republicans were very successful in saying, “Hey, we want to overturn it.” Roe v. Wade.” That was the agreement. And so this will be an interesting and interesting fight that will tell us a lot about the identity of the new American right.
