A top conservative is urging GOP politicians not to shy away from being pro-life but to go on the offensive instead. On Wednesday, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Republicans must advance the pro-life cause “head on.” She urged pushing Democrats to admit the extremes of their pro-abortion positions and, in order to help pro-life candidates achieve this, laid out a three-point plan.
First, McEnany said, “talk about supporting mothers.” A majority of pro-life pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations work hard to provide for vulnerable mothers — not just while they’re pregnant, but into the early years of childhood too, gifting mothers with diapers, baby formula, blankets, and food, as well as emotional, medical, and even financial support. Abortion advocates often claim that pro-lifers are only “pro-life until birth,” but McEnany’s advice puts pro-abortionists on the defensive while calling on Americans to support mothers.
McEnany’s second point is to emphasize compassion in rhetoric. She pointed to the recent success of pro-life legislature in Kansas, when a doctor’s testimony on caring for babies who survived abortions swayed even Democratic legislators to override Governor Laura Kelly’s (D-Kan.) veto of the born-alive bill, requiring medical care for babies who survive abortions.
The final point McEnany advocated was exposing “the extremism of Democrats.” She said, “I’d love to see a presidential candidate look at Joe Biden and say, ‘President Biden, when does [an unborn] baby feel pain?’ I don’t think he could answer that question. Why isn’t every Democrat in America being asked that question?”
McEnany’s clarion call comes ahead of abortion-related ballot initiatives to be voted on in the coming months in several states. In Arizona, for example, abortion activist organizations like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood are launching a political action committee to focus on enshrining abortion into the state’s constitution. Groups in Florida, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska are trying to put a constitutional “right” to abortion on the ballot too. A similar proposal will be voted on in Ohio in November. Notably, voters in Ohio just rejected a proposal requiring a 60% majority to approve amending the state’s constitution — as opposed to a simple majority — which critics point to as an indicator that abortion is likely to become a constitutional guarantee in the Buckeye State.
According to Axios, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is urging Democrats to double down on pro-abortion rhetoric in light of the Issue 1 failure. A memo circulated amongst Democrats argues that abortion is “still a major motivating factor even after the [2022] midterms.” The memo further states, “It is crucial that Democrats remind voters early and often that ... MAGA Republicans are focusing their power on advocating for dangerous and unpopular abortion bans.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America called on conservatives not to shy away from advocating pro-life principles, saying in a statement, “So long as the Republicans and their supporters take the ostrich strategy and bury their heads in the sand, they will lose again and again.”
Some Republicans seem to be taking that advice — and McEnany’s — seriously. For example, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee addressed the Ohio ballot initiatives and said, “If [Ohio Democratic senator] Sherrod Brown wants to run on his support for child gender reassignment surgery and painful abortions up to the moment of birth, we'll welcome that.” Others are backing off abortion, like Florida governor and Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis, who recently refused to endorse a federal abortion ban, arguing it’s up to the individual states.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
