President Donald Trump made his largest moves on abortion on Friday since being inaugurated, signing a pair of executive orders that meant to reestablish his opposition to the procedure after a leftward pivot on the campaign trail.
Trump was largely silent on abortion in the days following his inauguration, but a series of recent actions by the 47th president, including the orders to enforce the Hyde Amendment and reinstate the so-called Mexico City Policy, as well as his pardoning of several anti-abortion activists, is likely a sign of how he will approach the issue in his second term.
The president moderated himself on abortion throughout the 2024 campaign cycle as he sought to court swing voters who may have been turned off by strong anti-abortion policies.
Trump, who has been championed by anti-abortion groups for his role in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, said during his campaign that the issue of abortion should be left up to the states, disappointing some corners of the Republican Party who hoped to see a nationwide ban. The removal of anti-abortion language from the official Republican Party platform also caused controversy at the time.
Trump’s reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, which requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to confirm if they receive U.S. funding for family planning assistance that they do not provide or promote abortion, comes after he hesitated to pledge he would so during an interview in October 2024, saying, “We’re going to be giving that a very good, serious look: in other words, how that compares and competes with the states. But we’ll be giving that a very serious look.”
But Trump’s restoration of the policy, as well as his enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, which restricts government funding for most abortions, signals that Trump will likely continue to take strong action on abortion in his second term.
During a virtual address to the March for Life earlier on Friday, as Trump instead spent the day traveling to North Carolina and California, the president vowed to support anti-abortion protesters.
“Thanks to your tireless work and devotion across five decades, that historic wrong was set right three years ago,” Trump said in the address, referring to Roe v. Wade. “I was so proud to be a participant. Six courageous justices of the Supreme Court of the United States returned the issue to the state legislatures and to the people, where it belongs.”
He added that in a second term, “We will again stand proudly for families and for life.”
Still, Trump stopped short of calling for federal action on abortion during his address, indicating Trump is intending on leaving the issue up to the states for now.
Before Trump, no sitting president or vice president had ever attended the March for Life, held each January to commemorate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Trump changed that by speaking at the rally in 2020, and he sent Vice President JD Vance to address the crowd in person this year.
Prior to his Friday night actions, Trump’s flurry of week-one executive orders have directly addressed abortion policy, and one anti-abortion advocate complained to Politico that “we’re an important part of the MAGA coalition. We’re loyal foot soldiers. So the question is, how patient should we be [with Trump?]”
However, the series of actions from Trump at the end of his first week has likely smoothed over any frustrations from the anti-abortion community.
“With this action the president is getting American taxpayers out of the abortion business and restoring sanity to the federal government. This is a big win for babies and mothers, and it reflects the will of the majority of Americans who strongly oppose bankrolling the abortion industry at home and abroad. On behalf of pro-life Americans and the moms and babies that will be saved from the tragedy of abortion, thank you, President Trump,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Majorie Dannenfelser said in a statement Friday night.
But even before Trump issued the duel executive orders, if there was any lingering frustration between Trump and the March for Life, it wasn’t apparent on Friday, even with the temperature hovering around the freezing point on the National Mall. Trump was loudly cheered at the event, and several MAGA hats and pro-Trump signs could be seen in the audience.
“I know your hearts are warm and your spirits are strong because your mission is just very, very pure, to forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our creator,” Trump said in his virtual address, which was recorded inside the Oval Office. “Thank you for never losing hope and never giving up. Thank you for your tremendous support. God bless you and God bless America.”
Vance went a step further in his remarks, which were delivered from the stage after several other prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) had already spoken.
“We failed a generation, not only by permitting a culture of abortion on demand but also by neglecting to help young parents achieve the ingredients they need to lead a happy and meaningful life,” Vance said. “A culture of radical individualism took root, one where the responsibilities and joys of family life were seen as obstacles to overcome, not as personal fulfillment or personal blessings.”
Vance, the father of three young children, also talked about “the obligation that one generation has to another” and said the issue is about more than simply opposing abortion.
“Let me say very simply, I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vance said.
Like Trump, Vance has sought to thread a needle on the topic of abortion. He said last year that the Republican Party had lost the trust of voters over abortion policy, even while maintaining that the GOP needs to remain the “pro-family party.”
Jeanne Mancini, the March for Life’s outgoing president, previously told the Washington Examiner that she “certainly was not happy with some of the comments made on the campaign trail” but added that the first Trump administration increased the reach of the March for Life and anti-abortion movement writ large.
“President Trump was the first president in American history to come to the March for Life, the first president to ever send a standing vice president to the March for Life,” Mancini said. “We weren’t on the world stage to the same extent until Trump and Vice President [Mike] Pence made March for Life a matter of importance.”
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Ending Roe v. Wade was the top goal of the anti-abortion movement for nearly 50 years, as evidenced by the ongoing strength of the March for Life event. But winning additional anti-abortion policy battles in Washington may prove elusive.
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which the White House issued a statement of support for, failed to advance in the Senate in a partisan vote earlier this week, failing to gain the necessary Democratic support to pass. The bill would have required life-saving medical care for infants born after failed abortions, yet fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority threshold needed to advance, with the cloture vote on the motion receiving only 52 yeas and 47 nays.
