No sign of presidential backing for federal abortion ban

President Donald Trump recently touted himself as "the most pro-life president in history," but he has so far followed through on a 2024 campaign promise to not push for a federal abortion ban.

"Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it," Trump said as a candidate.

To mark the annual March for Life on Jan. 23, the White House released a summary of the Trump administration's recent actions on abortion policy. They included:

• The State Department's expansion of the "Mexico City policy" barring U.S. foreign aid from directly or indirectly subsidizing abortion. The revised policy now also bars funding to groups that promote "gender ideology" and diversity, equity and inclusion, and newly applies to international groups like U.N. agencies.

• The National Institutes of Health's decision to end the use of fetal tissue in federally funded research, which some scientists have said could set back some lines of research.

• The Department of Health and Human Services' repeal of orders from Joe Biden's presidency, including one that said the law requires emergency abortion access and another that enabled unaccompanied children in the country illegally to secure abortions.

The Trump administration also implemented a policy change banning abortions at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. And Trump's signature 2025 tax and spending legislation included a provision eliminating Medicaid reimbursements for organizations such as Planned Parenthood. That provision has since been challenged in court.

But there's no evidence that Trump has backed a national abortion ban. It wasn't mentioned as a goal in the March for Life day memo, and it wasn't mentioned in a recorded speech he gave for the event. Trump similarly didn't mention a national ban one year earlier when he addressed the 2025 march.

According to a search of the Factbase presidential remarks archive, the two March for Life speeches were the only occasions in his second term when Trump publicly said "abortion."

Joseph Meaney, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told EWTN News that there is "a widespread feeling that the second Trump administration has seemed to deprioritize issues important to the pro-life community." Meaney added that he has "seen calls for pro-life groups to 'flex their muscles' and show that they cannot be taken for granted."

It's too soon to say if Trump's stance will hold for the rest of his second term, but through the first year, he has done nothing to advance a national abortion ban. This fits with his campaign promise, so for now, we rate it In the Works.