Today, Donald Trump issued his statement on abortion, disavowing federal involvement. It was both a correct decision and a politically smart one. Democrats have always used abortion to bring voters into its fold. Now, it cannot do that anymore.

In 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court purported to find a right to abortion in the Constitution. It did so by finding penumbras, emanations, and unicorns hidden behind the Constitution’s explicit statements about individual rights and the limitations of the federal government. Of course, when you make up rights, you can go with the flow. That’s why, although that made-up right initially applied only to a woman’s first three months of pregnancy, subsequent Supreme Court decisions eventually created an unfettered imaginary constitutional right.

In June 2022, Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion for the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Dobbs decision reversed Roe v. Wade, not by making abortion illegal but, instead, by returning it to the states where it always belonged. The only way to federalize abortion is through the constitutional Amendment process, which requires a lot of hard work to get the majority of the American people to support the policy. That’s not going to happen any time soon…or ever.

Image: Donald Trump. Truth Social screen grab.

Within a short time, America’s laboratories of democracy (i.e., the fifty states) went to work. Some severely limited abortion, some lightly limited it, and some took off all limits. Time will tell which policies best serve the citizens of those states, and that’s the way the American system was always intended to work.

Donald Trump fully understands both the logic of the Dobbs decision and the huge benefit to Republicans from abiding by the Dobbs principles in an election during which traditional constituencies are shifting dramatically. According to polling, the Democrats’ policies on the border, the economy, the Gaza War, Ukraine, etc., are causing sizable shifts in the normal voter demographics. Jews, young people, minorities, and LGBTQ+ members, all of whom were reliable Democrat voters, are starting to abandon Biden.

For decades, whenever these shifts occurred, Democrats could hustle these voters back into the fold by saying “abortion.” It was a magic word, like saying “treat” to a dog. No matter what they were doing, it got their attention and led them back to the fold.

With his abortion statement today, Trump took that magic word off the table:

Former President Donald Trump wants abortion limits to be left to the states, wading into a thorny issue as he tries to bring independents to his side without alienating pro-life voters.

Mr. Trump said allowing state legislatures or a direct vote on the ballot would represent the “will of the people.”

“Whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state,” Mr. Trump said Monday morning in Truth Social video. “Many states will be different.”

[snip]

In his video, Mr. Trump said Democrats are the extreme ones, supporting abortion through the full term.

Mr. Trump praised, by name, the right-leaning justices who voted to overturn Roe.

“Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” he said.

Mr. Trump said he is in favor of exceptions to limits in case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

Trump is right in every respect, including the exceptions he identifies, with which most Americans agree. And no, it’s not the fault of that baby that it was conceived through rape or incest but, again, most Americans agree with Trump’s stance. To change people’s minds requires persuasion.

It’s foolish to insist that Trump demand that, contrary to Dobbs, Congress outlaw abortion. That will lose the election and hand the government over to people who are pushing to reinstate unlimited abortion across America. As it is now, people who live in Massachusetts can vote for Trump because of the economy or immigration without being lured back into the Democrat fold with the threat that they’ll lose their abortion rights.

Along with his statement about abortion, Trump announced his support for In Vitro Fertilization, which is also a popular stance. And yes, it’s true that there are ethical implications around fertilized eggs that are frozen or destroyed. But as Trump also says, IVF leads to more American babies and more American families, plus being hugely popular. A smart, pro-American politician cannot ignore this.

I applaud Trump for his principled and pragmatic approach. I get that pro-life groups are disappointed, but that’s because they’re so focused on a single battle that they’ve lost sight of the larger fact that we must win the war (a point Trump makes in the video, too). We know from events of the last three years that losing the 2024 election means that America ceases to be a liberty-oriented, constitutionally governed republic, one in which conservatives have the room and the voice to change people’s minds on all issues, including abortion.