(LifeSiteNews) – Former President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump boasted over the weekend that women “will no longer be thinking about abortion” if he returns to the White House because he will make them “happy, healthy, confident, and free.”
On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that women were poorer, less healthy, less safe, more “depressed and unhappy,” and less “optimistic and confident in the future” than they were four years ago, but he will fix the situation “fast.”
“WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE!” the former president exclaimed. “YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION, BECAUSE IT IS NOW WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES, AND A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE – AND WITH POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS, LIKE THOSE THAT RONALD REAGAN INSISTED ON, FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER – BUT NOT ALLOWING FOR DEMOCRAT DEMANDED LATE TERM ABORTION IN THE 7TH, 8TH, OR 9TH MONTH, OR EVEN EXECUTION OF A BABY AFTER BIRTH.”
“I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE,” he declared. “THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE. THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN!”
On Monday during a campaign stop in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump repeated that declaration “to the great women of our country” almost verbatim, adding that he “will make you safe at the border, on the sidewalks of your now violent cities, in the suburbs where you are under migrant criminal siege, and with our military protecting you from foreign enemies,” resulting in women no longer feeling “abandoned, lonely, or scared,” being “in danger,” or having “anxiety from all of the problems our country has today.”
Apparently referring to Democrats who continue to attempt to tie Trump to abortion bans, Trump lamented that “it’s all they talk about, abortion, because we’ve done something that nobody else could have done. It is now where it always had to be, with the states and the vote of the people, and it is and will be with powerful exceptions like those that Ronald Reagan insisted on, for rape, incest, and life of the mother” (a misstatement of Reagan’s position as president that Trump has repeated for years).
The Trump campaign used the president’s comments Tuesday in response to a new NBC News poll finding that women prefer the Democrat nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, by 21 points (Trump leads among men by 12 points).
Many Republicans including Trump believe moderating on abortion is key to counteracting that trend, but while polls have found a leftward shift in abortion sentiment in recent years, the available evidence indicates it is not a significant factor in Republican electoral woes, because most voters prioritize other issues higher and do not consider a candidate agreeing with the about abortion a deal-breaker.
Regardless, Trump now opposes further federal action on abortion and supports letting abortion pills be distributed by mail, and has caused consternation among current and former pro-life supporters by staking out those positions over the past several months, along with his work to, in his own words, make the GOP “less radical” on abortion, including by having the national Republican Party platform rewritten to reflect his more liberal position.
At the same time, his continued difference from Democrats on issues such as “transitioning” gender-confused minors and Harris and Democrats’ continued support for a comprehensive far-left policy agenda including unlimited abortion-on-demand is expected to keep most conservatives and Republicans resigned to accepting him as preferable.
Harris currently leads Trump by 1.9% in RealClearPolitics’ popular vote polling average and by 3.6% to 3.9% according to RaceToTheWH (depending on whether former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is counted), but margins remain extremely close in the swing states that will decide the Electoral College outcome.