While the media and Democrats continue to proclaim that President Trump and Republicans have “extreme” views about abortion (or what they like to call “reproductive rights”), it is essential for voters to know:
- Republicans want to set limits on abortion. Some say it should be legal for the first 15 weeks, some say six weeks, and some (including Family Research Council) believe that life is sacred and unborn lives should be protected from the moment of fertilization until natural death.
- Kamala Harris and Democrats want absolutely no limits on abortion and believe killing unborn children should be legal across the United States right up until the moment of birth. Many Democrats have even voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (including Harris) and the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would outlaw infanticide.
Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human Dignity, Mary Szoch, and FRC Action director, Matt Carpenter, joined Joseph Backholm recently on the “Outstanding” podcast to contrast Trump and the Republican Party with Harris and Democratic Party when it comes to abortion policies and records.
Trump Was the ‘Most Pro-Life President in the History of America’
While former President Trump has recently made statements that are discouraging to those who stand up and advocate for the sanctity of human life, Szoch reminded listeners that it’s important to remember that he “was the most pro-life president in the history of America. He … not only appointed the justices who overturned Roe and gave us the Dobbs decision, he signed Mexico City … he wrote a letter to Nancy Pelosi telling her he would veto any legislation that was meant to undo pro-life protections and to promote abortion at the federal level. …He worked to defund Planned Parenthood. He appointed personnel at just about every level of government, including abroad, where under the Biden-Harris administration, so much has been done to promote the killing of unborn children in countries where all life is considered sacred.”
Carpenter agreed, saying that during his first term, President Trump was “by far the most pro-life president I’ve certainly seen in my life. And you can’t take that away from him. … There were existing pro-life protections at the federal level. You had the Weldon Amendment and the Hyde Amendment and certain other statutory safeguards in place to make sure there weren’t … taxpayer funds going to abortion, or in the case of the Weldon Amendment, that employers and employees who had a conscientious objection to performing or paying for abortion had some kind of safeguard there.”
A Harris Administration Would Promote Abortion and Penalize Those Who Disagree
In contrast, Szoch explained, “Kamala Harris is the most rabidly pro-abortion candidate that we have ever had.” She went on to say, “The worst-case outcome in this election is obviously Kamala Harris wins and [the Democrats] win … the House and Senate. [Then] the filibuster is gone. And abortion through nine months paid for by taxpayers is now the law of the land across the country.”
Carpenter reiterated this point. He said, “I think people … may [not be] prepared for how much a Kamala Harris administration would put abortion front and center, would promote it, would celebrate it.”
Szoch offered further details, highlighting the fact that Kamala Harris “visited an abortion clinic and celebrated it. She shut down David Daleiden’s undercover operation, where he exposed … video evidence of Planned Parenthood talking about performing partial-birth abortions and pulling babies’ limbs off their bodies. She shut that down at the request of Planned Parenthood.”
“This is a woman who lives to advance the agenda of the culture of death. … The American people don’t want to live in a country where an unborn child who is born alive after an abortion, can be shut in a closet and left to die. And that, in fact, is what Kamala Harris voted for, not once, but twice. And that’s what her vice presidential candidate allowed to be repealed … laws protecting … unborn children in the state of Minnesota. So she could not be more pro-abortion.”
Backholm added that Harris is “on record stating that she would like to get rid of the filibuster,” which means she would “create a progressive majority on the Supreme Court so that [Congress] could pass legislation that would codify a right to abortion at any time, any place, anywhere, which would overturn the pro-life protections that exist in … half of the states right now.”
He continued, “We know personnel is policy…” For example, “When you look into the Department of Education … and all of the science funding programs that exist where the federal government is inclined, depending on who’s writing those agency rules and what their perspective is, to use the strings that come with federal dollars to manipulate local school districts, local hospitals, local nonprofits, local research institutions to say, unless you embrace our view of abortion, unless you [as a] medical student/nursing student, are willing to participate in, contribute to abortions, you can’t go to school. You can’t even get into the program. You can’t get funding for this. You can’t get licensed. So you can’t join those professions.”
“I’m actually relatively confident that that’s not coming with the Trump administration.”
Voting against Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiatives and for Pro-Life Candidates Down-Ballot Is Important Too
There are several states that will have pro-abortion ballot measures on their ballots this November. Carpenter emphasized that defeating these ballot initiatives has to be a motivating factor for pro-life voters.
In addition, he said, “We’re blessed to live in this federalist system where you can get the ear of your state legislator or your state senator or your county commissioner. … So I would encourage pro-lifers to educate yourselves, get involved in the process, and find out where you can make the most impact.”
Backholm agreed, saying, “I think one of the political risks of Trump’s recent kind of maneuvers is to discourage people for whom life is the most important issue. They’ll say, ‘Well, he doesn’t care about life, so I’m not voting at all.’ And there are literally thousands of down-ballot races that will be impacted because, emotionally, people just check out when the top of the ticket is not saying the right things — they’re not enthusiastic. And so they’re not thinking strategically to realize, ‘Okay, I might be very frustrated about that, but we’ve got governors’ races and county commissioners and mayoral races. … So regardless of how you’re feeling emotionally right now, you’ve got to vote.”
Elections Are Temporary, the Kingdom of God Is Eternal
Ultimately, it is important for Christians to keep things in perspective: elections are temporary, and God is sovereign and in control. Szoch said, “The Republican Party has never been my church. … If we are looking to politicians to be something other than politicians, we’re putting our faith in the wrong spot. … There’s a call to all of us that we need to be working to further the kingdom of God.”
Carpenter shared her conviction saying, “I’m not looking to spend eternity in the voting booth. … This is just a temporary thing. So we have to do the maximum amount of good that we can with the options we’re given during the difficult times we might live in. And just see what the Lord has for us on the other end.”
Build a Culture of Life — Truth Wins!
Szoch concluded by calling on pro-life citizens to build a culture of life: “Talk with your friends and your neighbors and your loved ones about the beauty of children. … We live in a society where you have a second child and the first question you’re asked is, ‘Are you done?’ … Are you kidding me? … These two kids that I have right now are the greatest blessing that I could have ever been given. There is nothing in this world that will ever compare to … the blessing of having children.”
Backholm affirmed her passion for speaking the truth in love, saying that we’re not going to rebuild a culture of life at the ballot box. “We’re going to solve that in our conversations with courage by … teaching our children and the people around us about the value of truth, and hopefully through the example of our lives, that we will live in such a way that it is really compelling to live according to the truth.”
As the Apostle Peter wrote to the early Christians, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
