A Major Anti-Choice Group Is ‘Disappointed’ With Trump’s Abortion Announcement

Former President Donald Trump’s big abortion announcement Monday landed like a ton of bricks with the ultra-conservative, anti-choice groups and activists who hope to see a national 15-week abortion ban.

Trump revealed Monday he believes reproductive rights should be left up to the states, effectively signaling he won’t come out in favor of a national abortion ban between now and the election. Trump’s position angered anti-choice groups that feel empowered to call for a national ban on the procedure following the rollback of reproductive rights in 2022.

“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position. Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

The group nonetheless reaffirmed its commitment to beating Democrats in November — without explicitly saying it would work to elect Trump. “With lives on the line, SBA Pro-Life America and the pro-life grassroots will work tirelessly to defeat President Biden and extreme congressional Democrats,” Dannenfelser said.

Dannenfelser’s group, which reluctantly backed Trump for president in 2016, has previously said it would not support candidates who don’t endorse a national 15-week abortion ban. Trump, during the primary, reportedly entertained but ultimately abandoned the idea of supporting a 16-week ban to placate social conservatives.

The situation underscores the daylight between the presumptive GOP nominee and the nation’s most prominent anti-abortion group on a tough issue for Republicans, who’ve tried to soften their stances