As president, Donald Trump appointed the three justices who proved pivotal to the outcome in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Trump has made it very clear that he is proud of this. He said so at the time. Dobbs, he pointed out in a statement, was “the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation” and was “only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court.”
It was, he continued, “my great honor to do so!”
If the ruling was Trump’s, then so are the results. Since the Supreme Court freed Republican-led states to outlaw abortion and impose harsh penalties for women and doctors who either seek or perform the procedure, there has been diminished access to reproductive and maternal care, as well as a rise in premature births. In a national poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 68 percent of OB-GYNs surveyed said that Dobbs has “worsened their ability to manage pregnancy-related emergencies.” Sixty-four percent also said that the ruling has “worsened pregnancy-related mortality.”
It is not hard to find stories of women forced to risk death and carry dangerous pregnancies because of the court’s decision, delivered by Trump, to revoke a constitutional right to abortion. And it’s the sheer horror of the post-Roe world that has pushed voters, in red and blue states, to codify abortion rights into state constitutions whenever possible.
But despite the clear provenance of the attack on reproductive rights — despite the fact that Trump openly bragged about his pivotal role in overturning Roe v. Wade — many Americans don’t seem to blame the former president for the actions of the Supreme Court majority he assembled during his term.
According to a December poll conducted by Data for Progress, a left-leaning think tank, 24 percent of likely voters hold Trump responsible for new bans or restrictions on abortions in states across the country. Somewhat more, around one-third, blame Republicans in state office and Republicans in Congress. Half blame the court.
