Friday, while speaking at his Mar-a-Lago home, former President Donald Trump indicated that a new law at the federal level governing abortion is unnecessary, as the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade sent the issue back to the states to decide.
Trump took questions from reporters at Mar-a-Lago after delivering remarks with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) when he was asked why voters should trust him when he said earlier this week he would not sign a federal abortion ban.
“Because we don’t need it any longer. Because we broke Roe v. Wade, and we did something that nobody thought was possible,” Trump said. “We gave it back to the states. And the states are very working very brilliantly, in some cases conservative, in some cases not conservative. But they’re working and it’s working the way it’s supposed to.”
“You’re having some very, very beautiful harmony to be honest with you,” Trump said.
The decision President Trump refers to, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, held in part:
The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.
The Tenth Amendment likewise refers to powers "not delegated to the United States by the Constitution," as being reserved to the states; therefore, the Dobbs decision removed abortion from the federal purview and sent it to the states.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
The result of this decision has been a flurry of legislation and court cases at the state level.
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Trump is correct; the Constitution does not mention abortion, and the Founders would have been aware of the practice, which is documented as far back as the Greco-Roman era. The omission of it in the Constitution, framed in light of the Tenth Amendment, clearly makes it an issue for the states to decide; in other words, aligning with the intent of the Founders, who set up a federal republic, not a democracy. Each state is a laboratory in government; in this as in many, many other issues, what works in Massachusetts won't work in Wyoming; what voters prefer in California, voters in Alaska may find abhorrent. This is federalism; this is one of the reasons American citizens are increasingly voting with their feet.
The former President has, though, expressed his pride in having appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Trump earlier this week said it should be left up to the states to determine abortion policy, while appearing to say he would not sign a federal ban.
Trump has frequently expressed pride in appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. His White House supported GOP legislation that passed the House during his first term that would have banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
In the November elections, Democrats will almost certainly attempt to make abortion a major issue, although it rates far lower among voters than illegal immigration and the economy, both matters in which the Biden administration is not doing well.
Related: Donald Trump Shows United Front With House GOP at Announcement of Bill Barring Illegals From Voting
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