‘We can work with him’: Abortion opponents tentatively embrace Trump, and pro-choice RFK Jr.

Trump has said he would veto a national abortion ban, which is a big goal of the anti-abortion movement. But there are other steps he can take, like eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood.

Anti-abortion activists are elated about Donald Trump’s return to power despite annoyances with the president-elect’s lack of appetite for national restrictions.

Now, they are cautiously optimistic, looking ahead to what his administration might do for their movement. 

“President Trump has said, loudly, that he doesn’t believe abortion is a federal issue – something I deeply disagree with him on,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “However, we can work with him.”  

Though a national abortion ban is probably off the table, Hawkins and others say they are still hopeful about other steps they have in mind for Trump and his Cabinet, such as eliminating government funding for Planned Parenthood. But anti-abortion advocates also have expressed skepticism about some of Trump’s other moves, including the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat who holds what they view as more lenient positions on abortion, to be his secretary of Health and Human Services.