Earlier this week, Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) took some flak that seemed to me undeserved. After Senator Hawley and his wife announced a new pro-life initiative, a “close Trump adviser” told Axios that Hawley had “clearly learned nothing” from the 2022 elections about the political toxicity of opposition to abortion. Axios also claimed that Hawley’s new effort is a way to position himself to Vice President JD Vance’s right in time for the 2028 presidential primaries.
That speculation seems like a wild overread. It is not at all obvious that this initiative is intended as a shot against Vance. And even if it were an attempt to boost Hawley for 2028, is it really one that ought to inspire great fear or dread among Vance supporters? Are all other Republicans supposed to lie low for the next three years? Also, are we sure that this “close Trump adviser” learned the right lessons from 2022 and 2024? No pro-life senator or governor lost an election in either of those years. That includes governors of states who had signed protections for unborn children and senators who had sponsored federal legislation offering such protections.
Now, however, comes news that Senator Hawley himself is open to extending Obamacare subsidies without any provision blocking the money from covering abortion. He says that an executive order can substitute for such a provision. This may be an honest mistake on his part, but it does look like a mistake — and an echo of the argument that was used to get pro-life Democrats to vote for Obamacare in the first place. I hope the senator, along with the Trump advisers anonymously criticizing him, reconsiders.