Grab 'Em by the Legacy: Rolling Back the Years With President Trump

Historically, Donald Trump’s position on women’s reproductive rights has not been particularly clear. Mindful of the social conservatives among his voting base, on the 2016 campaign trail he offered staunchly anti-abortion rhetoric, including a promise to appoint an like-minded Supreme Court judge to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Once in office, he immediately signed an Executive Order reinstating the Reagan-era ‘Global Gag’ rule on US funding of international NGOs who offered abortion service or counselling. This chapter will examine the current position of the US government regarding reproductive rights, specifically focusing on the level of unity between the president’s rhetoric, his party’s priorities, individual state legislation and the expectations of his voting base.