If the abstract class is deriving from Unity Object, like in your example, then the field will show the normal control for assignments.
The ‘(Abstract)’ label is only shown when the class derives System.Object, since you can’t do any editor assignements with that type.
So, it’s a bit weird the fact that it doesn’t work for you this way. I just checked again and it does work as intended.
What version of NodeCanvas are you using?