Donald Trump’s attempt to take the sting out of abortion as an election issue risks angering both sides of the debate.
He will please some conservatives by calling this a states’ rights matter. For most Americans, however, this is an issue that demands consistency and federal leadership.
Trump’s problem is that his core Republican supporters want a uniform hard line and Democrats favour a return to the status quo ante under Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed the national right of access. This generally permitted abortion up to the stage when a foetus is considered viable, at about 24 weeks.
Watch Trump’s statement
Trump opened Pandora’s Box by appointing a cadre of conservative judges who carried out his repeated pledge to overthrow Roe and
