Before he was elected president, many people in the pro-life movement were skeptical about President Trump’s commitment to the protection of life. In the past, they wouldn’t have been without reasons. Many years ago, he had counseled a friend to receive an abortion. As late as 2013, his pro-life stance could be described as lackluster. That year, he called into sometimes shock-jock Howard Stern’s show, and when challenged on abortion, said that he was pro-life but said: “well, it’s never been my big issue.”
Whether his ‘Road to Damascus’ moment was seeing incensed pro-abortion protesters do everything but riot in response to his presidency, or if it was indeed his experience with his friend’s choice of life, the President has clearly had a major change of heart. This conversion isn’t just rhetorical: in August, the President successfully de-funded Planned Parenthood. This was far from his only victory for life: he has appointed countless pro-life jurists to the courts, pushed agencies to promote conscience protections for pro-life staff and medical providers, and worked to defund the UNFPA, which promotes China’s One-Child Policy.
Last week, the President made history by being the first President to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. addressing it in person. Last year, he delivered an address via video to Marchers, declaring that he is dedicated to defending the Right to Life as it was upheld by our founders in the Declaration of Independence. He opened his speech Friday by saying that Marchers are in D.C to “defend the right of the born and unborn to fulfill their God-given potential.”
What’s more, early this week President Trump declared January 22 the ‘National Sanctity of Human Life Day’, the same day as the anniversary of the tragic 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. By doing this, President Trump released the strongest rhetorical indicator that the American Administration views Roe and other previous precedents which violate the rights of the unborn to life with disapproval.
Where previous Republican Presidents have been noncommittal or lackluster in the defense of life, President Trump has surpassed all of his predecessors last week in symbolic and political commitments to the defense of human life. While partisan Democrats in Washington D.C attempt to remove him from office, Conservatives should keep in mind the President’s policies and steadfastness in the defense of life, and rally behind his good example.
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