A prominent anti-abortion group criticized former President Donald Trump on Thursday after his campaign said he believes states should decide abortion laws.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued a scathing response to a statement the Trump campaign made to The Washington Post when asked if Trump supported a six-week abortion ban that a likely 2024 opponent, Gov. Ron DeSantis , signed into law in Florida.
“President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three justices he supported, was correct when it ruled that this is an issue that must be decided at the state level,” said Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign. told the Post.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser Criticized Trump by Name in a sentence on the Thursday after the story was published.
“President Trump’s assertion that the Supreme Court returned the abortion issue solely to the states is a completely inaccurate reading of the Dobbs decision and it is a morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate,” Dannenfelser said.
“We will oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to adopt at least a national standard of 15 weeks,” he added.
Cheung did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night from NBC News, nor did he tell the Post whether Trump supported a six-week abortion ban.
Until Thursday, Trump had remained mostly mum on the issue of abortion, his campaign avoiding questions about his views on the new Florida law.
SBA Pro-Life America’s response underscores the challenges facing Republicans seeking their party’s nomination next year. Republican candidates are struggling to navigate between conservative members of the rank and file who want strict anti-abortion rules and those who want the procedure to be legal in all or most cases.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who was also Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, did not say whether she would sign a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks shortly after launching her presidential campaign in February. “We need a consensus on this,” Haley said. NBC’s «TODAY» show At the time.
Another outspoken Republican presidential candidate, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, told the Iowa Capitol Office last week that letting the states decide on abortion was «the right way under our system of federalism.» He also said that if a nationwide abortion ban bill came to his desk as president, «he would like to look at the bill to see exactly what it does.»