Former President Donald Trump has not been entirely consistent on the issue of abortion along the 2024 presidential campaign trail.
Some of his Wyoming supporters like state Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, are optimistic that Trump’s past actions on the controversial political issue speak louder than his most recent words.
“Remember, Trump was the first president to attend the March for Life,” Rodriguez-Williams said. “I pray the Trump campaign joins the strong momentum to protect preborn babies.”
Rodriguez-Williams has been a vocal pro-life supporter in Wyoming, passing legislation in 2023 that led to a ban on most abortions that’s now being challenged in court. Her original version of the 2023 bill did not contain exemptions for instances of rape, incest or the mother’s life being at risk.
Trump is largely credited for making abortion a state’s rights issue, with many of his supporters considering him the most pro-life president in American history. The conservative judges he added to the U.S. Supreme Court during his time as president paved the way for the court’s ruling that resulted in the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Abortion On The Campaign Trail
Along the campaign trail this year in his bid for a second term in office, Trump’s stance on abortion has been more inconsistent, sometimes seeming to fluctuate based on which audience he’s speaking to.
Democrats have attempted to call this out and see abortion as a potential vulnerability for the Trump campaign.
Despite this, it’s still unlikely that pro-life supporters might choose Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump for president just because she is more consistent on the issue, supporting rights to abortion.
Rodriguez-Williams said a vote for Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “is anti-American.”
The difference it could make, however, is for less committed swing voters who traditionally determine the fate of most modern elections. In 2016, swing voters swung to Trump, but in 2020 they turned back to support President Joe Biden.
Swing voters aren’t likely to be a factor in Wyoming as the state voted for Trump with a larger margin than any other in 2020 and 2016.
As for abortion becoming a major issue of the 2024 campaign on a national level, Cheyenne resident Marcie Kindred, field communications director for pro-choice group Wyoming United for Freedom, called it a “smart, strategic move.”
Flipping
In an Aug. 23 post to his social media platform Truth Social, the day after the Democratic National Convention completed, Trump wrote that, “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” a comment that could be believably replicated by any Democratic candidate.
Fast forward to last week and Trump reversed course again, this time on a Florida ballot measure allowing abortion up to 24 weeks, saying on Fox News that he would oppose it.
Florida banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions, after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. The proposed state constitutional amendment is going on the Florida ballots this fall, a state where Trump is a resident, which would effectively undo the six-week ban and allow abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
In 2023, Trump condemned Florida’s six-week abortion ban as a “terrible mistake.” He offered more criticism for the ban on Fox News last week, but said he would still vote to support it in preference over the 24-week proposal.
In response to Trump’s newest criticism of the Florida ban, the conservative National Review published an article titled, “Trump Stabs Florida Pro-Lifers in the Front.”
Trump’s inconsistencies on abortion haven’t been limited to this race.
In a 1999 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he described himself as “very pro-choice.” Twelve years later when giving a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference while considering a 2012 run for the White House, Trump described himself as “pro-life.”
Earlier this year, Trump also said an Arizona Supreme Court ruling outlawing abortion went too far and successfully pressured lawmakers there to make it more moderate.
Trump has added former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team, both of whom have supported abortion rights in the past. Gabbard is scheduled to speak in Cheyenne on Sept. 20.
One abortion position Trump has been consistent with is refusing to sign a federal ban on abortion if elected president again, a stance which was reiterated again by his running mate J.D. Vance of Ohio late last month.
Not Concerned
Etna resident Marti Halverson, who is president of pro-life group Wyoming Right To Life but spoke to Cowboy State Daily in her personal capacity, said she isn’t bothered by Trump’s approach to the issue and believes he’s reflecting the wishes of the American populace, which she considers “politically astute.”
She referenced a 2022 Pew Research poll that found that although 61% of people support at least some access to abortion, 91% of Americans also believe there should be at least some form of restrictions on them.
At the Republican National Convention in July, Trump requested softer abortion language in the party’s platform than originally drafted, leaving it up to states to pass abortion bans as they please. The platform also did not clearly state that fetuses have a right to life.
“That platform language Trump got passed is entirely consistent with American’s views on abortion,” Halverson said. “What Trump is doing reflects the polling.”
Abortion And Wyoming
In 1994, a proposed abortion ban was put on the ballot as a constitutional amendment in Wyoming. It was rejected by about 20% of the vote.
Former Wyoming congressman Al Simpson said he knows Trump supporters who are very disappointed with the former president’s stance on abortion.
Simpson, who is generally pro-choice and a vocal critic of the former president, believes Trump is in “panic mode” trying to take a more moderate stance on the issue.
“That’s what happens when you’re all over the place,” he said. “It was going to cost him the election. That’s why he shifted, because he knew he was going to lose.
“Abortion is a deeply personal and intimate issue, and I don’t believe any legislator should be involved in that process,” Simpson added. “It should be between a woman and her doctor, a pastor, the father of the baby or even her parents.”
The issue also came up during Simpson’s 1990 campaign against Democratic Kathy Helling, who was pro-life. Simpson won that race by about 44,000 votes.
Kindred said her organization isn’t concerned with Trump’s stance on abortion and is focused on addressing the issue from a Wyoming level where they believe they can make a tangible difference. She has no illusions about which candidate the state will vote for in the upcoming election, remarking that “Wyoming loves Trump.”
“At Wyoming United for Freedom, our focus is solely on protecting the fundamental freedoms of Wyomingites,” Kindred said. “We have no influence or interest in the flip-flopping positions of national politicians or the failures of either political party to safeguard these rights.”
Kindred said both parties have fallen short in protecting women’s access to personal health care decisions, which is why she said her group can’t rely on the federal government to do what’s right for Wyoming.
As a result of the 2022 Supreme Court overturn, determining the legality of abortion is a decision now in the hands of all 50 states.
In Wyoming that decision is being fought out in court, with the state Supreme Court returning in April a decision on the matter back to the Teton County District Court. The constitutionality of whatever decision is made there will almost certainly be challenged back at the state Supreme Court level.
Very Common
It’s not uncommon for politicians to shift stances on issues to try and curry swing votes in a close election. Biden opposed abortion earlier in his career, but now is much more supportive of it.
“It is not surprising to hear any politician changing their views to be more reflective of the majority of Americans, taking away rights is not what real Americans stand for,” Kindred said.
Harris has changed her position on a few different issues as well, like fracking. After promising to end fracking, she’s now promising not to end fracking.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who ran for president in 2004, was frequently blasted by Republicans for flip-flopping on issues.
And whatever public comments Trump and Harris make along the rest of the campaign trail, there is nothing to stop them from reversing course when they get to the Oval Office.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
