The Stakes on Abortion

The question of whether women should be allowed to end a pregnancy has roiled American politics for more than half a century.But this year’s presidential race is the first since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

Wade, and abortion politics and policy are changing rapidly.Kamala Harris has made abortion rights a central promise of her candidacy.But she would likely face legislative hurdles to restore them nationwide.Donald Trump takes a murkier approach.

He argues that abortion law should be left to the states.But some of his allies want to criminalize the procedure across the country, and he refuses to say whether he would oppose a national ban if Congress passed one.The Morning is running a series explaining the policy stakes of the election and the impact a Harris or Trump victory could have on key issues in American life.

In this installment, I’ll focus on abortion.I’ve covered abortion politics for more than a decade and am co-author of a recent book, “The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America.”Trump’s murky viewTrump has a long history of reversing course on abortion.In 1999, as he flirted with a presidential run, he declared himself “very pro-choice.” A dozen years later, he publicly changed his position.

“Just very briefly, I’m pro-life,” he told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011.During his 2016 campaign, he built a close alliance with social conservatives by promising to nominate “pro-life justices” to the Supreme Court.But as the politics shifted after the fall of Roe, Trump struggled to find his footing.

In March, he expressed openness to a 15-week national ban.Anti-abortion activists want such legislation because it would curtail abortion in liberal states where the procedure is legal later in pregnancy.

(This tracker by my colleagues shows where abortion is on the ballot in November.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Tha...