Although President-elect Donald Trump previously said that he’d refrain from any ban on abortion pills in the US, the former state head recently revealed that he wouldn’t rule out revoking access to mifepristone (one of the two drugs used in medication abortions) in a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. After months of distancing himself from Project 2025, a conservative political manifesto that seeks to dismantle abortion rights nationwide, Trump is slowly moving back towards his hard-right positions on reproductive rights.

During his presidential campaign, Trump zeroed in on the strategy of obscuring his anti-abortion position as much as possible.

In February 2024, the former president expressed his support for “the availability of IVF [in vitro fertilisation],” following a controversial ruling by the all-Republican Supreme Court in Alabama, in which it was determined that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law and led some providers in the state to suspend their in vitro fertilisation programs.

Then in April of that same year, Trump started to shift away from taking a firm stance on abortion, choosing instead to “privately” weigh in on the debate. Of course, privately was just a synonym for unofficial since his newest statements were plastered on the front page of every major news outlet.

The former President stated that he supports an abortion ban at 16 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. This is a fairly uncontroversial stance, considering that progressive countries such as Germany, Spain, and France place their cut-off at 12 weeks, 14 weeks, and 14 to 16 weeks, respectively.

True-blue states like New York currently maintain bans from the 24th week of pregnancy so these “private” statements were clearly intended to appeal to independents, moderate Republicans, and right-leaning Democrats.

Then Trump placed the cherry on top in August, when he announced that he believes the government or insurance companies should cover the cost of IVF treatments, a position that progressives such as Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) would probably sign off on.

And because it’s Trump, he also attended an all-women town hall in October where he called himself the “father of IVF.” His campaign later rushed to clarify that this was a joke. Of course, Trump did not invent IVF, he is just a major fan.

All in all, the aspiring dictator was working overtime to make women believe that their wombs were safe with him.

Fast forward to December this year; the election has been safely won and it’s finally time to drop the act.

“More than half of abortions in this country are medication abortions. Will you restrict the availability of abortion pills when you’re in office?” Meet the Press’ Kristen Welker asked Trump.

The future commander-in-chief replied: “I’ll probably stay with exactly what I’ve been saying for the last two years. And the answer is no.” But when asked if he’ll “commit to that,” he refused: “Will I commit, I mean… things change. I think they change.”

When it became clear that that vague answer had ruffled some feathers, he added: “I hate to go on shows like Joe Biden, ‘I’m not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon. I watched this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon. And so, I don’t like putting myself in a position like that. So things do change. But I don’t think it’s going to change at all.”

@thedemocrats

Donald Trump owns every abortion ban across the country. Pass it on. #thedemocrats #dnc #roevwade #dobbsvjackson

♬ original sound - The Democrats

Just to be clear, even his initial rejection isn’t exactly reassuring considering that he led an administration that proudly overturned Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to abortion and stated that there should be some type of punishment for the procedure.

@thedemocrats

Donald Trump owns every abortion ban across the country. Pass it on. #thedemocrats #dnc #roevwade #dobbsvjackson

♬ original sound - The Democrats

So the fact that Trump is keeping the option open to change his opinion on the matter proves that he is moving closer to the Project 2025 agenda. I think I can speak for us all when I say: is anyone surprised?