Donald Trump may have disappointed pro-life activists with his embrace of a federalist stance on abortion, but with President Joe Biden being a far-left abortion zealot, they will still vote for him. For New York Times columnist David Brooks on Friday’s PBS NewsHour, however, this is just another instance of “the power of Trump” and “above some of the core convictions.”
Host Geoff Bennett asked Brooks for his thoughts on the fallout of the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling that an 1864 pro-life law can be enforced, “Because even Donald Trump is implicitly acknowledging that this is a problem, because he said that the Arizona State Supreme Court went too far and that the law, in his words, needs to be straightened out.”
Brooks claimed that “this is a phenomenal shift in the Republican Party we saw this week. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has been a pro-life party. It’s been based on the conviction that, from conception, it’s a human life. It’s a human life. And then you get Donald Trump. And, recently, he’s been floating the idea that we should have a 15-week ban or a 20-week ban. In other words, he’s for allowing a law that has 93 — or some 90 percent—of the abortions would go forward, and he’s allegedly pro-life.”
It is unfair to compare a post-Roe GOP candidate’s stance on abortion to a Roe-era GOP candidate’s. Even still, Brooks’s claim is unfair. Roe did not allow for a federalist solution, so by allowing states to impose bans or 15-week restrictions, Trump is being more pro-life than Roe even if he disappointed pro-life activists by not embracing a national policy.
Brooks, however, would repeat himself, “This is literally the most pro-choice position a Republican has taken since Ronald Reagan, this is going back to Jerry Ford, maybe. And so you’re seeing the party bend to the political winds, and it’s just an astonishing turnaround.”
As for those pro-life activists, Brooks claimed that “the thing that astonishes me, the pro-life groups, they should be really, I guess it’s appropriate to say raising holy hell. But they’re sort of going along with it. And it shows that — the power of Trump over the party. Let’s protect Donald Trump, even above some of the core convictions.”
Again, Brooks is being unfair. Many people believe that politics and elections are the art of the possible, and with Trump as president, it will be possible to get some conservative judges, maybe some pro-life regulations, and that state pro-life laws will survive. If Biden is re-elected, it is possible, if not likely, that the opposite will happen.
Here is a transcript for the April 12 show:
PBS NewsHour
4/12/2024
7:44 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, what about that, David? Because even Donald Trump is implicitly acknowledging that this is a problem, because he said that the Arizona State Supreme Court went too far and that the law, in his words, needs to be straightened out.
DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, well, this is a phenomenal shift in the Republican Party we saw this week. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has been a pro-life party. It’s been based on the conviction that, from conception, it’s a human life. It’s a human life. And then you get Donald Trump. And, recently, he’s been floating the idea that we should have a 15-week ban or a 20-week ban.
In other words, he’s for allowing a law that has 93 — or some 90 percent of the abortions would go forward, and he’s allegedly pro-life. Now he’s sort of backed off that position. His position is, it should be state by state. But he won’t tell people how they should vote. He says, follow your heart.
This is literally the most pro-choice position a Republican has taken since Ronald Reagan, this is going back to Jerry Ford, maybe. And so you’re seeing the party bend to the political winds and it’s just an astonishing turnaround.
And the thing that astonishes me, the pro-life groups, they should be really, I guess it’s appropriate to say raising holy hell. But they’re sort of going along with it. And it shows that — the power of Trump over the party. Let’s protect Donald Trump, even above some of the core convictions.
Will it shift election, the presidential election? I’m not so sure. I think it’s definitely helped Democrats in House races and it’s definitely helped Democrats in every ballot initiative since Dobbs. But if you look at people in Arizona say, what are the issues they care about? Inflation and immigration are number one and two, and they vastly prefer Donald Trump.
Abortion is in there, but it’s down below. So will it affect the — it’ll certainly drive Democratic turnout, but will it shift toward Donald Trump? I’m not sure, since the two big issues, he’s pretty good on.