The radicalism of Donald Trump’s anti-abortion agenda

Donald Trump winning will mean no medication abortions in all 50 states, even if Democrats can take the House:

But in recent interviews and statements, leading antiabortion advocates are looking past what they characterize as purely political rhetoric — and plotting actions that they believe a Trump administration would take as early as next year to crack down on abortion.

Leading advocates are concentrating on refining recommendations for two agencies with enormous power over abortion-related policies nationwide — the Justice and Health and Human Services departments — such as revisiting the 2000 approval of a key abortion drug and halting the mailing of abortion pills, according to a document published by the conservativeHeritage Foundation. The Food and Drug Administration, which approves drugs and has the power to take them off the market, operates under HHS.

Roger Severino, who led several antiabortion efforts at HHS under Trump, said the movement is more focused on potential agency actions than passing a national abortion ban, which leaders privately acknowledge is extremely unlikely to make it through a divided Congress.

For those reasons, the conversation over when in pregnancy to ban abortion nationally is “almost beside the point,” Severino said, emphasizing that he does not speak for Trump or any Republican campaign. “I don’t see his previous statements as limiting [Trump’s] ability to be a strong pro-life president.”

The anti-abortion groups understand this a lot better than Savvy political pundits do. Ignore Trump’s rhetoric — especially when if comes to the federal regulatory state and the judiciary, he does what the Heritage Foundation tells him to. Which should be terrifying if you support reproductive freedom and equal citizenship for women. And any reporter who describes Trump as a “moderate” on abortion is in the wrong line of work.