(CP) Pro-life advocacy groups are offering differing reactions after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested that abortion laws should be decided on a state-by-state basis as the issue remains at the forefront of American politics.
Trump posted a video to Truth Social early Monday outlining his campaign's position on the issue of abortion. He began by promising that "under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving and healthy American families," adding, "We want to make it easier for mothers and families to have babies, not harder."
After expressing support for in-vitro fertilization "in every state in America," he described Democrats as "radical" on the issue of abortion because "they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month" of pregnancy. He criticized the concept of "having an abortion in the later months" as "unacceptable" before proclaiming that whatever individual states decide on the issue of abortion "must be the law of the land" in each particular state.
"Many states will be different," he predicted. "Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative [laws] than others."
After stating his belief that "this is all about the will of the people," he thanked the United States Supreme Court justices who authored the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision reversing the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide for "having the courage to allow this long-term, hard-fought battle to finally end." He called on states to "do the right thing" and stressed his support for allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest as well as instances in which the mother is facing a medical emergency.
In a statement on Monday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, "We are deeply disappointed in President Trump's position."
Insisting that "unborn children and their mothers deserve national protection and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry," Dannenfelser maintained that the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision "clearly allows both states and Congress to act."
She added: "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."
Dannenfelser vowed that leading up to the 2024 presidential election, "SBA Pro-Life America and the pro-life grassroots will work tirelessly to defeat President [Joe] Biden and extreme congressional Democrats."
In a statement shared with The Christian Post, March for Life President Jeanne Mancini agreed with Dannenfelser that "there remains an urgent need to advocate for the unborn at the federal level." She expressed concern that "pro-abortion politicians relentlessly work to enact federal legislation like the deceptively titled Women's Health Protection Act which would cancel every [state's] ability to limit abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, and erases existing pro-life protections for vulnerable women and children nationwide."
"If they have their way, the whole nation will go the way of the seven states and [Washington, D.C.] that already allow abortion for any reason, at any time during pregnancy," she warned. "The overwhelming majority of European nations reject such barbaric policies with minimum protections for children after the first trimester. We as a nation need to work toward federal minimum protections for the unborn, and advocate for policies that support pregnant women and families in need."
On the other hand, the Faith & Freedom Coalition shared a statement with The Christian Post proclaiming, "We appreciate his statement re-affirming his pro-life convictions."
The organization also praised Trump as "the most pro-life president in American history" who "kept his promise to appoint the conservative federal judges, which gave us the opportunity after a half-century of struggle to protect the unborn."
The Faith & Freedom Coalition further outlined its plans to "continue to work for the passage of legislation at the state and federal level to protect as many children as we can" and "contact tens of millions of voters of faith to educate them on where the candidates stand, including Joe Biden's support for abortion on demand as a form of birth control, paid for with tax dollars."
The advocacy group asserted that "Biden and the far Left are the real extremists, and their radical position on abortion is not only morally repugnant but is way outside [the] mainstream."
In a statement shared with The Christian Post, National Right to Life President Carol Tobias used Trump's campaign statement on abortion as an opportunity to remind people that "in his first term, President Trump demonstrated extraordinary leadership and delivered historic results on behalf of vulnerable unborn children and their mothers." She also expressed gratitude to Trump for "ensuring that the wrongly decided Roe v. Wade was abandoned to the garbage heap of history."
"Thanks to President Trump, the American people and their elected representatives on the state and federal levels now have greater authority to determine abortion policy and pass meaningful protections for unborn children and their mothers. Efforts on the federal level include undoing pro-abortion policies enacted by Joe Biden based on a wish list of the abortion industry."
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins released a statement rejoicing that Trump did not embrace the push by some pro-life organizations and lawmakers to come out in favor of a 15-week abortion ban.
"I'm pleased to see that President Trump listened to pro-lifers and isn't going to allow a divisive late-term limit that some GOP insiders [had] been pushing, which would have embraced more than 9 in 10 abortions, to be a distraction from Joe Biden's abortion extremism," she remarked.
Hawkins added, "We clearly have some work to do to educate the GOP on the lawlessness of a predatory IVF industry, whose own sloppiness has caused the painful headlines we all have seen."
Despite having some disagreement with Trump's views on abortion, Hawkins said her organization "can work with an administration preparing to welcome the next generation, rather than fast-tracking their deaths by abortion."
