WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Professional pro-life dissatisfaction with the state of the national Republican Party hit a possible turning point over the weekend, with one prominent movement leader going so far as to declare, “Trump is the problem.”

The fight over the interstate mail distribution of abortion pills intensified last week when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Louisiana and temporarily blocked a Biden-era rule change, defended by the Trump administration, that allows mifepristone to be prescribed and dispensed without an in-person appointment. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently put a stay on that order while the justices consider the matter, allowing the pills to resume.

It was against this backdrop that the Wall Street Journal published a report on May 3 with the provocative headline, “The Antiabortion Movement Is Turning on Trump,” primarily concerning the Trump administration’s refusal so far to restore the in-person dispensing requirement or enforce a federal law banning distribution of abortifacients via the postal service.

“Trump is the problem. The president is the problem,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser told WSJ. “It’s shameful that the Trump administration’s inaction has forced pro-life states to take their battle to the federal courts,” she went on. “It’s very clear that the issue is perceived as the third rail, and you just have to stay away from it. You cannot utter the A-word.”

Calling Trump himself “the problem” appears to represent a significant escalation. Like most national pro-life lobbying groups, SBA has been critical of the president’s negative actions on life but has generally been careful not to alienate him. In 2023, after Trump came out against further federal action on abortion, Dannenfelser called his stance “indefensible” and vowed to “oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace at a minimum a 15-week national standard,” but a month later touted a “terrific” meeting with Trump.

Speaking to WSJ, Dannenfelser went on to share that SBA plans on spending $160 million on the 2026 and 2028 elections, and, more importantly, will only aid candidates who commit to “pro-life action at the national level,” rather than the states-only focus that Trump imposed on the Republican Party platform in 2024.

The other side has a national plan to establish all-trimester abortion in every state. If the pro-life movement pursues a states-only strategy — standing still as the abortion lobby accelerates — we will fail. pic.twitter.com/mZ9o0vmmYi

— Marjorie Dannenfelser (@marjoriesba) May 5, 2026

Other pro-lifers were also quoted as expressing frustration with the direction of the GOP.

“You have Republican states that are challenging a Republican administration over this because their laws are being undermined,” said Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. “Pro-life voters are going to be wondering what’s going on when they head into the polls in November.” 

“This is just insulting, right? This is not what we voted for,” added Marc Wheat, general counsel for Advancing American Freedom.

In response, White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster claimed that Trump “has been a proven leader in the pro-life movement and he will continue to champion these policies to protect the sanctity of life” and declared him “the most pro-life and pro-family president in history,” echoing a title some pro-life groups such as National Right to Life Committee continue to give him. 

In May 2025, the Trump administration promised to review the safety data on abortion pills, giving hope of reversal of its stance, but nearly a year without updates has prompted frustration among pro-lifers, with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) going so far as to question if the study is underway at all. Schuster claimed that review is still coming, though pro-lifers have argued that a new official finding on the pills’ safety should not be necessary to restore enforcement of the federal law against mailing abortion pills across state lines.

Mail-order abortion pills make chemical abortions even in pro-life states extremely difficult to prevent. The latest data from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute found 1,125,930 clinical abortions in 2025, a slight increase from 2024, which Guttmacher attributed in large part to abortion pills. Planned Parenthood’s 2024-2025 annual report says that it alone committed 434,450 abortions, a record number for the organization and eight percent more than the previous year.