President Donald Trump released a statement this week, opposing a nationwide abortion ban. In the statement, the former president identified abortion as an issue to be decided at the state level. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, state-by-state legislation is now the primary way to regulate abortion. Still, many on the Left and a few on the Right are pushing for federal legislation.
President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and political commentator Mike Cernovich took up the debate on an episode of Trump Jr’s Triggered on Monday night. They arrived at the same conclusion as the former president that legislation on the state level is the proper way to handle abortion.
"My father today, put out a statement about abortion saying that the issue should be left to the states and that the voters should have a say in the matter. I mean I think that was sort of the whole purpose of overturning Roe v. Wade which was like, let the states decide. He also made it clear though that the Republican party must promote the miracle of life and family," said Trump Jr.
Though abortion bans when put on the ballot at the state level (take Ohio as Exhibit A) have not proven successful, it only indicates that a nationwide ban would fare no better.
“As much as I’m pro-life, what are you going to do? You’re going to lose the issue on the national ballot so clearly. You’re losing it in red states so clearly. It’s on the ballot. What do you do?”, queried Cernovich.
Instead, as President Trump advised, conservatives need to be on-the-ground, grassroots advocates for life and family, changing the hearts and minds of Americans, not just changing the laws of the states. Cernovich has seen over again campaigns similar to that of the pro-life movement against gambling and marijuana fail due to a lack of affirmative messaging.
“It’s not enough to be ‘anti’. You have to have a message that steers people away from that culture,” Cernovich explained.
Through his interactions with the up and coming generations, Trump Jr observed, “We’re actually winning some of the culture wars finally, but like, [abortion] was the deal breaker.”
Conservatives have a lot of ground to cover to make real change in the country on the issue of abortion, but keeping it at the state level is the proper place to start. The last two CPAC straw polls concur, indicating that the American people agree with President Trump and want abortion decided by the states.
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