By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
April 12, 2024
Donald Trump’s latest position on abortion – that a national ban is unnecessary because it’s purely a state issue – could set back the pro-life movement by generations, leading to the loss of tens of thousands more unborn lives, says the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
“As a steadfast advocate for the sanctity of human life, I am concerned by former President Trump’s recent shift on abortion policy. Until this moment, pro-lifers saw him as a great champion who would continue working to transform this country into a culture of life. However, with his recent statement, the former president has signaled he’s decided to wash his hands of that responsibility. This pivot in position feels like Christ, the giver and Savior of Life, being crucified afresh. Trump’s newfound stance places political expediency over the fundamental principle that innocent human life should never be politically negotiable,” Creech said.
His was among a sea of voices decrying Trump’s stance, which the presumptive GOP nominee for president announced Monday in a four-minute video on the Truth social platform.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land – in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said. Just a month ago, he had hinted that he would support a national ban at around 15 weeks. But on Monday he advised Republicans to “follow your heart on this issue. But remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture …”
Creech said the shift is not entirely surprising.
“Having worked as a lobbyist for the Christian Action League of North Carolina, I’ve witnessed firsthand how some politicians will claim to be ardently pro-life only to abandon their convictions when faced with actual legislation to limit abortion,” he said.
“Moreover, just as Lincoln once declared regarding slavery, we cannot be a nation divided between freedom and oppression. Similarly, we cannot claim greatness while permitting the government-sanctioned destruction of countless lives. The sanctity of human life is not just another political issue – it is the defining moral imperative of our time. If we fail to vigorously defend the right to life, then no other right can truly be secure. In every political climate, we must be prepared to seize every opportunity, both on the federal and state levels, to advance the cause of protecting and preserving innocent unborn life.
Lila Rose, president of Live Action, called Trump’s stance an “anti-human and cowardly position.”
“President Trump says that abortion should come down to the ‘will of the people.’ It is not right for democratic societies to vote on the fundamental rights of unpopular minorities. There is no more unpopular minority today than preborn Americans. Abortion is not about the ‘will of the people,’ it’s about respecting the human right that we are endowed with by our creator. Our rights come from God, not the government,” she wrote as part of a social media post directly asserting that “President Trump is not a pro-life candidate.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, and Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins similarly expressed their organizations’ disappointment in Trump.
“Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act,” Dannenfelser wrote.
Hawkins said state lines “should never mean the beginning or end of your human rights.”
Former vice president Mike Pence called Trump’s retreat on the right to life “a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020.” And South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham made it clear that he would continue to push for a national minimum standard limiting abortion at 15 weeks.
Although Trump defended his position, arguing that Democrats would never approve of federal laws limiting abortion and that they have capitalized on the issue, Matthew Dowd, lead strategist for former President George W. Bush, told The Hill that Trump has taken the “worst possible political position.”
He said Trump’s attempt to wash his hands of the issue at the federal level and leave it all to the states will demotivate a part of his base and open the door to questions regarding whether or not he supports each state’s actions.
In its reporting on the issue, CNN outlined 13 times Trump’s abortion position shifted over the last 25 years, and Rose pointed out that his current stance is in opposition to the GOP platform.
“The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can ‘be deprived of life, liberty or property’ deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that ‘all’ are ‘endowed by their Creator’ with the inalienable right to life,” the platform states. “Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
Creech said the issue is larger than the role of the presidency or of party politics.
“Whoever is president of the United States and whoever is elected to the US Congress and Senate must faithfully and consistently work toward ending abortion on a national level,” he said. “To do otherwise is to be weighed in God’s balances and found wanting!”