Trump's Balk on Abortion Ban Sends Shockwaves Through Pro-Life Movement

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : The widespread reactions came after Trump -- whose appointment of Supreme Court justices while president has been hailed as instrumental to the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade -- announced in an April 8 video message that "the states will determine" the future of abortion in the U.S, failing to endorse a 15-week federal abortion ban supported by many pro-life organizations.
52% : "My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state," Trump said in the video.
47% : Pro-life leaders have also expressed concern about the impact Trump's decision will have throughout the GOP, given the former president's vise grip on party leadership.
40% : The columnist added that, given that pro-lifers have hitched their cause to Trump, the movement is now effectively held hostage by a candidate who has demonstrated no principled commitment to their goals, while also possibly pushing the country further left on abortion through his character.
36% : she said on X.Rose added that she never said not to vote for Trump, and has repeatedly said that Biden is "atrocious" for the pro-life cause.
24% : But other pro-life advocates worry that by abandoning the issue at a national level, Trump will embolden Democrats to "fill the legislative void" left by Republicans with radical pro-abortion policies.
23% : Ross Douthat, a columnist for The New York Times, went even farther in his criticisms of Trump's pro-life bona fides, suggesting in an April 10 column that Trump is "an instigator for the country's pro-choice turn," given that his style of conservatism "is entirely misaligned with the pro-life movement as it wants and needs to be perceived.
17% : "But pro-lifers need to recognize that Donald Trump is not a pro-life candidate, and we shouldn't assume he'll govern like this issue matters to him.
11% : Some pro-lifers have pushed back at criticisms of Trump, emphasizing that he is a better option than President Joe Biden, a Catholic who supports the radical expansion of abortion access, and arguing that publicly criticizing Trump hurts his election chances.

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