Trump Takes a Cue from Solomon on Abortion
He opposes a federal ban, wants the issue decided by each state
The issue of abortion has been a murky one at best in the United States – is it a “right” as some say or an abomination as others claim? Donald Trump weighed in on the issue recently but people can’t agree if his words helped clear up the issue or was a stick stirring it into a further muddy mess.
In Trump’s stated opinion, he favors Ronald Reagan’s standard that abortion should be illegal except for cases of rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother, but that he believes it should be an issue for the states to decide, not the federal government.
Podcaster Scott Adams said this is a shrewd political move, a la Solomon, of splitting the baby down the middle. It has the effect of a compromise that leaves both sides unsatisfied.
The two sides, at the extremes in this debate, range from staunch pro-lifers who believe life begins at conception, making any abortion an act of murder, to the staunch pro-abortionists who believe a woman should have the right to an abortion at any point up to moment of birth. Most Americans, though, waver somewhere in the middle.
All of this debate comes as a result of a 2022 decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that, in effect, had legalized all abortions. Overturning that ruling returned the issue of abortion to each state to decide. That makes sense based on the 10th Amendment to the Constitution that says that anything not stated as a federal issue in the Constitution belongs to the individual states.
Many political influencers on the right had argued that Roe needed to be overturned because it should be up to each state. Surprisingly, some of those same influencers are now upset that Trump didn’t propose issuing a federal ban on abortion instead of allowing the states to decide.
Most Americans are in the Middle
Most Americans, though, seem to align more with Trump’s view. In a Gallup poll, 51 percent said abortion should be legal only in certain circumstances, compared to 34 percent who said it should be legal in any circumstance and 13 percent who said it should always be illegal. But what those “certain circumstances” are varies widely.
Some states have proposed abortion restrictions after six weeks of pregnancy. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposed a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks. Others feel the moment of viability (when the baby could survive outside the womb, generally considered at about 24 weeks) is the time to ban abortions. The Gallup poll found that 55 percent oppose abortion in the second trimester (14-26 weeks) and 70 percent oppose it in the third trimester – but 69 percent are fine with an abortion in the first trimester.
If statistics from the Centers for Disease Control are to be believed (after their covid debacle I hesitate to cite them on anything), 80 percent of all abortions take place prior to the 10th week of pregnancy and only 4 percent after the 15th week, rendering moot many of the proposed abortion restrictions.
Trump’s “splitting the baby” decision has caused some staunch pro-lifers on the right to disavow Trump as a presidential candidate. But it’s unclear how that will help their cause. President Joe Biden is entrenched in the Democrat camp of allowing abortions for any reason at any time. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t favor any legislation to restrict abortion.
However, other pro-lifers think that even though they had hoped Trump would take a stronger anti-abortion stand, he still offers the best hope to save at least some babies from being aborted.
Cultural Rather Than Legislative Issue
But maybe the views of any of the presidential candidates doesn’t really matter. Maybe abortion isn’t really a legislative issue at any level, federal or state.
One person on Twitter made a statement that I think encapsulates the issue – it’s a cultural battle. The fact that so many Americans waffle somewhere in the middle shows that.
Part of it is an issue of sexual “freedom” that allows both man and woman to rid themselves of any responsibility for their sexual conduct. Part of it is that we’re a visual society and it’s hard to think of something we can’t see and hold as a real human being.
But I think the biggest factor for many Americans is, What if someone I love gets pregnant through rape or incest, or some medical condition puts their life in danger? They want to know that their loved one won’t have to go through with a pregnancy in this condition.
Rather than passing some law to prohibit abortion, more education about adoption, about the preciousness of life and even the vivid illustrations of the horrible dismembering of babies during the abortion process will help turn culture away from favoring abortions.
Because of that, I think Trump’s message will resonate with more Americans than people on the extremes realize. It gives them their safeguard against rape, incest and the life of the mother, and allows them a more active voice at the state level in deciding how far is too far.
It is also the best chance to save a greater number of the unborn, a chance that would completely disappear under another four years of Joe Biden.