Evangelicals won't be bothered by Trump's abortion gambit -- they know he's lying

Evangelicals won't be bothered by Trump's abortion gambit — they know he's lying

Project 2025 makes it clear: The plan is a national abortion ban, even if by executive order
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 9, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/09/evangelicals-wont-be-bothered-by-abortion-gambit--they-know-hes-lying/


"SNIP..........

That's because they all know it's a crock, and Trump will sign any abortion ban a Republican-controlled Congress passes. Moreover, they all know that, if he gets into the White House, Trump will abuse executive powers to create a backdoor ban on most, if not all abortion, by using the defunct-but-never-repealed Comstock Act to legally persecute those who transport drugs or materials that are used in abortions. They know he will do this, because they are all involved in developing the plan to do so, through Project 2025.

For those still unaware, Project 2025 was created by a coalition of MAGA forces, including all these Christian right groups, to draft the blueprint for Trump to use to destroy rule of law and force an authoritarian agenda on the nation if he gets back into power. They are especially keen on abusing presidential powers to impose a Christian nationalist worldview, complete with abortion bans, reversal of LGBTQ rights, and a crackdown on sex education and contraception usage. They know Trump will do whatever they ask of him, which is why they aren't sweating this whole thing where he pretends to be moderate to sucker the mainstream press.

As Melissa Gira Grant wrote at the New Republic, "On January 20, 2025, conservatives plan to resurrect a 150-year-old defunct law to ban abortion across the nation." And as she notes, "This is not a secret plan—far from it." It's published and heavily talked about in right-wing circles. Two Supreme Court justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, unsubtly championed this during arguments in the recent case, still pending, involving the abortion pill. While the Trump campaign claims, "Project 2025 does not speak for President Trump," every sign suggests that their 900-page playbook will be adopted by a Trump White House since the leaders of Project 2025 served in his first administration and likely would control a second.

Trump and his allies are clowns, but they are nonetheless deft manipulators of the media. They know how to hide the plans to implement draconian abortion bans in plain sight. The problem with the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that they plan to use to arrest people shipping drugs or materials necessary for safe abortion, is that explaining what it is, why it's still on the books, and how this will work is complicated and confusing. So mostly, the press avoids that. But a Trump video where he implies — but never actually promises — to leave it to the states feels simple. So the latter gets oodles of extremely misleading coverage, while the truth — that Trump's team has a fully fleshed-out plan to ban abortion — is largely ignored.

...........SNIP"