Six months ago, I wrote about how Donald Trump seemed to have a problem with the abortion issue. Prominent members of the pro-life community threatened to abandon him. As a result, Democrats were mulling the possibility of riding the abortion rights train to a three-way race for the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
The root of it all was President Trump's words: “My view is that abortion is happening where everyone wants it from a legal standpoint. Each state will decide by vote or by law or both, and whatever they decide is by law. Must be 'of land. In this case, it depends on state law. ”
For those on the right, That statement was disgusting. After the Supreme Court's “win” in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, some advocates hoped to use that advantage to push for more abortion regulation in Congress.
The attack on Trump didn't make sense to me at the time. Many pro-life people, including myself, have argued for decades that abortion is not inherently a federal issue. Trump's stance heading into the election had somehow morphed from 50 years of Republican orthodoxy to pro-life heresy.
It clearly didn't mean anything to voters last week either. The proof is in the total number of votes. What they tell us about the future of abortion should be eye-opening for both sides.
10 states had abortion issues on the ballot. Election day. Some of them, you guessed it, voted for this issue, and at the top of the ticket. For example, deep blue states of Maryland and Colorado voted to protect pro-choice initiatives and voted heavily for Kamala Harris. Red states, such as Florida and South Dakota, have certainly done the opposite, rejecting pro-abortion plans and voting in large numbers for Trump.
However, the handling of other states shows how correct President Trump's political position was to hand the abortion issue back to the states. Voters approved abortion rights protections in initiatives in Montana, Nevada, and Arizona, and those very same voters also handed the White House to Trump.
For example, in the heavily Republican state of Montana, citizens approved a ballot initiative that “explicitly provides for the right to decide and carry out one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.” And it wasn't even close: Problem Passed with 58% of voting. But those same voters gave Trump a 20-point victory.
The same was true in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona. In the formerTrump won by about 3 points, but the abortion rights bill that was placed on the ballot at the same time passed by nearly 30 points. In the latterTrump won by 5 points. Abortion has a difference of more than 20 points.
There were also some opinions in New York's Democratic stronghold. interesting numbers. Yes, the state supported Harris and abortion. But how many people expected that at least 500,000 of the people who voted to protect abortion in the state would also vote for Trump?
Bottom line: The millions of people who voted to extend or expand abortion rights in their states also voted for the most pro-life president in history. Apparently they echo what the pro-life community has been saying for years, and what Trump was pushing during the campaign: that abortion is not the job of the federal government, and that the issue is best handled in state capitals. He seemed to believe that.
The pro-life movement scored a major victory in the Dobbs case. This decision affirms what many of us have been saying our entire adult lives: that the Roe court was wrong to make abortion a federal law, creating what is essentially a non-existent federal law to address the issue. It was reconfirmed that it was meant to exclude them from the realm of democracy.
Does this victory mean the fight over abortion is over? Absolutely not. In fact, in many ways, the fight is now even more difficult because it will take a lifetime to litigate this case in all 50 state legislatures.
Pressure on Republicans to pass comprehensive federal legislation on abortion will be especially intense after Republicans achieved a trifecta of victories in the House, Senate, and White House. But they need to listen to President Trump and voters. Even those who are staunchly pro-life and vote that way first and foremost want decisions about abortion to be made locally. Not in Washington.
Former South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney is a NewsNation contributor. Under President Donald Trump, he served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and White House Chief of Staff.
