After Killing Roe v. Wade, Trump Pretends to Be a Moderate on Abortion

Donald Trump has spent the last several months attempting to paint himself as a moderate on abortion. In April, after suggesting that he was open to a national ban on the procedure, he claimed he would not sign one into law in a second term. On Monday, he told a group of Republican Party officials that he supported a new party platform (which was reportedly drafted by his aides), that softens the language around abortion and does not explicitly call for giving embryos or fetuses constitutional rights.

Because of this, you might find yourself thinking that Trump is not a clear and present danger to reproductive rights, and that a vote for him would not potentially lead to terrible consequences for abortion access. And you would be very, very wrong!

The only reason that Trump is pretending to be a moderate on this issue is because he knows extreme positions on abortion have cost Republicans elections. He absolutely cannot be trusted when he tries to convince people he wouldn’t further decimate abortion rights, and the many reasons we know that include but are not limited to the fact that he:

Nominated Supreme Court justices with the specific goal of overturning Roe v. WadeRegularly brags about, and takes full credit for, killing RoeLies about the number of people who wanted Roe overturnedSuggests leaving abortion laws up to “the states” is a good thing, even though he knows many of those states have total bans on abortionHas said it’s for “the states” to decide if they want to monitor individual pregnancies in order to punish people who obtain abortionsHas similarly said states can decide re: punishing doctors who perform abortionsHas repeatedly, and insanely, claimed Democrats support abortion “after birth”Told a group that wants to “eradicate” abortion that he’ll be with them “side by side”Meanwhile, for all its moderate language concerning abortion, the Republican convention platform still reads: “We proudly stand for families and life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the states and to a vote of the people. We will oppose late term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”

In particular, antiabortion advocates have praised the section on the 14th Amendment. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser toldThe New York Times: “It is important that the G.O.P. reaffirmed its commitment to protect unborn life today through the 14th Amendment.” Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition told the outlet: “The Republican Party platform makes clear the unborn child has a right to life that is protected by the Constitution under the due process clause of the 14th amendment.”

Yes, and it was there that the previous president suggested Americans inject household cleaner into their veins