Sensing Political Support, Abortion Opponents Raise Ambitions
The New York Times
The March for Life on Friday will bring together a movement invigorated by some early moves of the second Trump administration.
Anti-abortion activists are charging ahead with their ultimate mission to end all abortions nationwide, freshly emboldened by powerful allies in Washington, a continued Supreme Court majority and legislative opportunities in conservative states.
At the March for Life on Friday, the three most powerful men in America are expected to give remarks: President Trump via recorded video, and Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson in person. On Thursday Mr. Trump pardoned 23 activists convicted of obstructing access to abortion clinics.
And buried in an executive order stating that the U.S. government would recognize only two sexes — male and female — was a phrase that caught the attention of activists hoping to give constitutional rights to embryos. People were male or female “at conception,” the order stated.
Such steps amounted to a signal after a presidential campaign during which Mr. Trump pushed anti-abortion leaders to the outskirts of the Republican Party. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago with the Dobbs decision, many Republicans worried that the anti-abortion cause had become a political liability among independent voters.
But now that electoral politicking is over, anti-abortion activists are facing the question of just how far they can go.
Whether the recent signals indicate a more aggressive approach remains to be seen. Few believe that abortion is a top priority for the president in the same way as immigration or trade. How far he will move to limit abortion nationwide — or if he will take any steps at all — is unclear. But he’s also unlikely, allies and activists say, to try to impede conservative states’ efforts to enact new restrictions.
